How the New Girl Changed Everthing
by tigress33
Summary: **COMPLETE** Set after the season finale. Kris, Lane's cousin comes to live in Stars Hollow (Rory is in D.C.) She manages to change Jess' world. Jess/Kris or Jess/Rory? Hmm.....Please read/review!!
1. The crazy town

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Well, this is my first attempt at a Gilmore Girls Fic, I'm rather petrified of writing this for fear that I get the characters all screwed up. But, I shall try. If you could review, that'd be great, I really appreciate it. Check out my Harry Potter fic if you're into that as well. Thanks!

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She needed to get out, get out of this excuse of a town. Granted she just got there a few hours ago, but she couldn't stay here. No way, no how. She couldn't live with an aunt who didn't care about her who owned an antique shop. An antique shop?!? Her cousin, she was okay, way too overprotected, but okay. But that aunt...she couldn't deal with her dirty looks and feelings of rejection. She didn't need that, not now.

She walked out of the antique shop and around town. She needed to do something over summer, something to get her mind off the fact that she was living in a Pleasantville wannabe. A job, yeah, a job would work. Considering she never held a job in her sixteen and a half years of existence, what could she do? She scanned Stars Hollow, it was getting rather dark but saw a sign. "Luke's", a diner, she could be a waitress. She crossed the street and approached the diner.

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It had been a week since Rory left for D.C. Jess could think of nothing else but the kiss by the pond, and it angered him that a girl could have such a hold over him. She treated him terribly before she left simply by avoiding him, never explaining what the kiss could possibly mean. Chances are she never told Dean about the kiss; Dean hadn't barged into the diner to rip his guts out. He scrubbed the counter of "Luke's" furiously, deep in his own thoughts. He didn't even here the door chime and a young girl approach him.

"Excuse me?" a female voice asked him.

"Yeah?" Jess replied grumpily. He looked up to find an Asian girl, probably sixteen or seventeen, with dark red streaks in her hair staring back at him. She was dressed in a black tank top and dark blue jeans. She looked sad, but..._interesting_, Jess thought.

"I was wondering if I could speak to the owner of this diner," she replied, caught slightly off guard by Jess' attitude.

"Oh, okay, whatever. LUKE!" Jess yelled.

"WHAT?" another grumpy voice asked, coming out from the kitchen.

"She wants to talk to you," Jess replied, returning to scrubbing the counter. 

"Can I help you?" the older grumpy man asked. 

"Yes, are you Luke?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"I was wondering if you had any job openings. I really need to work," the girl replied.

"What's your name?"

"Kris Fujimoto, sir."

"Cut the 'sir' out, that's crazy. Call me Luke. Fujimoto, eh? Hey, is your mom Jessica Kim?"

"Yes, she's my mom," Kris replied sadly, looking down at the counter.

"Wow, I haven't seen her in, well, sixteen years? Where is she, I would love to talk to her. I saw you when you were a baby, and then your mom and dad left Stars Hollow for good, they said." Luke was confused as to why Jessica's family was back here, considering the fight that occurred sixteen years ago.

"I'm sorry, Luke, but she died a month ago. Along with my dad. They were in a car accident and I've come here to live with my aunt, Mrs. Kim and my cousin, Lane," Kris replied, obvious pain on her face though she tried to hide it.

Jess looked up from the counter and quickly down again. Having heard the whole exchange, he didn't know what to do, so did nothing.

"Oh, well, I'm very sorry. She was an amazing person, I didn't know your father too well," Luke replied uncomfortably.

"Thank you. I just need a job because I want to stay out of that house for as much time as possible until school starts," Kris said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic. She figured Luke must have known what conflict she was alluding to if he knew her mother so well. 

"Ah, well, okay. You can start tomorrow morning, at eight. Jess can show you what to do. Jess is my nephew whose been scrubbing the same spot on the counter for the past few minutes," Luke replied smiling.

Jess' head shot up, a flicker of anger in his eyes. It wasn't usually Luke's style to embarrass him in front of others.

"Well, it was probably really dirty. The guy who was sitting there spilled coffee before he left," Kris replied in Jess' defense. She looked over at him and smiled slightly. It was a blatant lie, there was no guy who spilled coffee, but Luke wouldn't know. He was back in the kitchen. Jess wondered why she had defended him, but quickly said, "Yeah. Anyway, I'm taking my break. Later," and walked out the door.

Kris turned her attention back to Luke who was shaking his head slightly. "I can't get through to that kid," he confided in her. 

"Where is he from?" she asked.

"New York City."

"Oh, I see."

"Where did you live?"

"L.A. Well, actually The Valley, but close enough."

"I see."

"Anyway, thanks for the job Luke, I really appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and walked out the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kris entered the antique shop after walking around town for the past two hours. She must have memorized the layout of this small place already which was unnerving to her. Back in Encino it would take a whole day to walk around the city.

"Where have you been?" Mrs. Kim asked her impatiently.

"Out, walking around town. I got a job at Luke's diner. I start tomorrow," Kris replied shortly looking at the banister of the stairs. She couldn't look at her aunt. 

"You've been here for one day and you already think you can just do whatever you want? Unacceptable!" Mrs. Kim replied angrily.

"I need the job. It'll help with paying for college and I'll be able to do something over this summer to keep my mind off stuff," Kris replied calmly. "I can't touch my parents' money until I'm eighteen." She didn't want to fight with her aunt, she was too tired. 

"Fine, but after work, you come back here! I don't want you wandering around the town getting into trouble." Mrs. Kim walked away. 

Kris sighed and went upstairs. Going into the barren room which would be hers for the next year, she kicked her suitcase hard and laid down on the bed. A faint knock on her door interrupted her frustration. "Come in," she said.

"Hey," Lane said quietly, entering the room. Kris was amazed at how skinny her cousin was. She had such a small frame, yet Kris knew she was a strong girl for surviving with her mother for seventeen years. 

"Hey, what's up?" Kris replied, now sitting on the bed and patting the bed for her cousin to sit on. She never met Lane before today, but she liked her. 

"I just heard what went down. My mom can be harsh like that."

"Yeah, whatever," Kris said, brushing it off. An uncomfortable silence filled the room until Kris said, "So, tell me about yourself. I feel bad that I'm living in your house and I don't really know you."

"Oh," Lane was slightly shocked at Kris' bluntness, but liked it at the same time. "Okay."

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Jess roamed around town thinking about Rory and that new girl, Kris. Rory. He was angry every time he thought of her. He liked her a lot, and she kissed him, and then left for six weeks. He hadn't heard from her. The only way he knew she was okay was when Lorelai came into the diner and talked to Luke about her. He figured Rory was scared to talk to him, but hell, she should have at least given him that much. And then there was that new girl. She was nice and reminded him of Rory in that respect, but she didn't have that overflow of innocence that Rory possessed. She was probably from some big city. She carried herself well, and she didn't have an accent when she talked. He walked around some more before deciding to head back to his room.

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"Wow, so your mom is okay with you playing the drums?" Kris asked. Lane and her had spent the last three hours talking about their lives.

"No, are you crazy? She'd have my head on a platter! I just do it when she's away, you know, at Bible Group or something."

"Oh I see, so you guys are religious?"

"Well, my mom is. I am too, to a certain extent. What about you?" Lane replied.

"No, not at all. I mean, I believe there is a God, in fact, I have no doubt there is a God, despite what has happened to me. But, I don't think you need a religion per say to worship Him."

"That's cool. So what were your friends like in L.A.?"

"Oh, they are the best. I had a close group of friends at school and then some friends outside of school whom I had known from middle school. We were like family, they were my brothers and sisters, since I'm an only child. You?

"Well, my best friend is Rory Gilmore. She's in D.C. right now for some leadership camp thing. She is absolutely amazing. I used to be a cheerleader and had friends that way, but I stopped the cheerleading. And of course my mom doesn't know about that either."

Kris couldn't imagine Lane as a cheerleader, but perhaps that was the reason she was one. "So, can I ask you something?" Kris asked.

"Yeah, sure," Lane said.

"What's the deal with Jess, the guy at the diner?"

"Oh, you don't really wanna deal with him," Lane replied shortly, dismissing the subject entirely.

"Huh, why not?" Kris didn't want to let it go that easily.

"He's a miserable kid from New York whom the whole town hates. He's a real trouble maker. The only person who gave him half a chance was Rory, but they got into a car accident and Rory's wrist got broken and Luke sent him back of New York cause the town hated him so much. He then came back two weeks ago and has managed to stay out of trouble, but I'd stay away from him as much as possible.

"It must be harsh having a whole town against you except one person," Kris replied. "I hope the town doesn't go on a 'We Hate Kris' march."

"Well, he brought it upon himself. But the town won't hate you, you're nice. Jess, well, Jess isn't nice."


	2. Meeting Dean

Kris walked into the diner the next morning at 7:45. Lane and her had talked until about three in the morning, of course without Mrs. Kim knowing. Kris couldn't bring herself to talk about her parents and Lane didn't push. Somehow the conversation always came back to Rory and Kris guessed that this girl must be the most loved person in this crazy town. 

When she entered the diner she overheard a balding middle-aged man yelling at Luke.

"That boy is nothing but a nuisance, a troublemaker, a scoundrel! Do you know what he did today? He took one of his cigarette butts and threw it down on the ground in front of my store! What will the customers think when they see something like that? Well, I'll tell you what! They think 'I don't want to shop in a store with grotesque garbage around it. I'd rather shop at the blasted farmers' market!'" _This must be Taylor, _Kris thought. _And he must be talking about Jess. _Jess was serving coffee to some customers at tables and must have heard this entire complaint, but his facial expression remained one of indifference. 

__

Luke looked as though he was going to reach over the counter and choke Taylor any minute, _and what would Luke's customers think about that, I wonder?, _a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

"Excuse me?" Kris asked politely, interrupting Taylor's rant.

"What? Huh, yes, can I help you?" Taylor turned around looking at the teenager before him. He didn't know what to make of her polite demeanor and red streaked hair.

"Are you Taylor, the owner of Doose's?" Kris asked sweetly.

"Why, yes, yes I am," he replied, pride seeping into his voice.

"I just wanted to say that I find your store really charming. It reminds me of corner stores in England."

"Well, I worked quite hard to achieve that effect. I'm glad that it paid off. Well, I must be going now, must open my store." Taylor left, much happier than when he came in and totally forgot his complaint.

Kris turned to Luke and smirked. "You get a raise," Luke said, completely relieved.

"Cool," Kris replied, smiling. She looked over at Jess who met her gaze for a quick second before refocusing his attention on the coffee serving. She had no idea why she was sticking up for Jess, a guy who had said nothing to her the entire time she was here. But there was something she could relate to in him...but couldn't pinpoint exactly what that was.

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The day passed by slowly. It was about five in the afternoon and Jess had gone for six breaks already. Kris adjusted to taking orders and serving food and drinks pretty well, though she did spill the coffee quite often. Jess didn't help her, but she didn't really care. Customers were wary of her at first, but she smiled at them and they became more friendly. That was something her mom had told her: when in doubt, smile. 

The door jingled and a tall boy, probably seventeen walked in. _Pretty cute_, Kris thought. He walked up to the counter, sat down on a stool and placed a basketball under his seat. When Jess walked behind the counter to get an order of fries, it seemed like the tall boy sneered at him. _Geez, everyone is anti-Jess..._she thought, exasperated. 

She went over to the boy and asked, "So, what can I get for ya?"

The boy broke his gaze from Jess and faced her. He looked surprised to see her there; Kris couldn't tell if it was a good or bad surprise.

"Uh, a burger and a Coke, please," he replied.

"Okay," she said. She could tell he was looking at her while she was writing the order. She looked up at him and asked, "So, you a baller?"

"Um, yeah, I play," he replied, surprised by her sudden question. 

"Cool. I'm Kris." She stuck out her hand.

"Dean." He took it hesitantly.

"Well, gotta go take more order. I'll see you later." She walked away and Dean followed her figure over to a group of older ladies who just entered the diner. He scolded himself; he wasn't supposed to be checking out other girls, especially when he had such an amazing girlfriend. 

Kris knew exactly who this guy was now. From the information Lane gave her, he was Rory's boyfriend, an "amazingly wonderful, devoted guy" who built Rory a car. Eventually, she walked back behind the counter to find Dean eating his burger. 

"So, do you like basketball?" he asked her.

"Of course. I used to play at my old school, along with volleyball."

"What's your favorite NBA team?"

"Kings."

"What? The Kings? What about the Lakers? Kobe? Shaq?" Dean looked completely flustered. 

"Well, sure, you can jump on the bandwagon if you want to. But Webber and Bibby? C'mon, they have real talent. Shaq is good, granted, but it helps that he can flatten any other player on the court."

"You must have been pissed when they beat the Kings."

"Oh, yeah, I was so sad. But the Kings really screwed up, and Horry saved the Lakers with those clutch three pointers. I hafta give that guy props," she replied. 

Dean was impressed at her basketball knowledge. He hadn't met a girl who could converse with him. Rory was never interested. "So, what do you have against the Lakers?"

"Well, I just don't connect with any of the players. Kobe, okay, well, he's a great player and he's not bad looking either," she smiled and he laughed, "but he's trying to emulate Jordan but doesn't have Jordan's class. Kobe should be himself rather than a Jordan wannabe," she explained.

"Hmm, so what did you think last last season?" Dean asked, testing how deep her basketball know-how was.

"Well, I was rooting for the 76ers, even thought Iverson is a ball-hog."

"And the season before that?"

"Blazers. I liked Wallace and I liked Pippin, even though Pippin really needs to retire, he's way past his prime."

Dean smiled, now deeply impressed. He hoped he wasn't blushing but she didn't seem to notice. "And where are you from?"

Kris paused, and smiled, realizing the irony, "L.A."

Dean exploded into laughter and so did Kris. Jess looked up and scowled. He had heard the entire conversation and it bothered him that Kris appeared attracted to Dean. It bothered him even more that he seemed to care. He slammed a dirty dish onto the back counter and left the diner. 

Dean and Kris stopped laughing. "What is his problem?" Dean asked, turning to look at Jess' departure.

Kris didn't answer.

"Anyway, it's not too busy here. Wanna play some basketball with me and some friends?" Dean asked.

"Sure, lemme just ask Luke." She walked towards Luke and he nodded for her to go ahead. She had only took one break the whole day.

"Okay, let's go," she said, glad to have made an acquaintance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess kicked at the sidewalk while walking around the center of town. _What the hell am I doing here? _he thought. He was completely miserable, well, he wasn't when Rory kissed him, but the memory of the kiss made him miserable. And then Kris, _why do I care about what she does? _He hadn't even said anything to that Kris girl, well, he actually couldn't say anything. Every time he thought about saying something, even a simple "thank you," he couldn't. He was frustrated and walked on.

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Dean and Kris walked over to the high school basketball courts where some of Dean's basketball teammates were waiting for them. The gates were open and as they approached a group of four boys around their age, one of them asked, "Where have you been, man? We couldn't play cause you had the ball."

"Sorry, got into talking. But I found a sixth person to play with us. Guys, this is Kris; Kris, these are the guys," Dean said, tossing the ball to the boy who complained.

The boy caught it and walked up to Kris. He was blond, blue-eyed, and could have been a Calvin Klein model. But he had that arrogant, "worship me" attitude. He shamelessly looked Kris up and down and then smiled at her. "I'm Alec," he said, holding the ball between his hands.

Kris smirked, she didn't like him. "I'm glad I met your approval," she said cynically. The other guys burst out in laughter and Alec blushed, but quickly recovered. 

"So, are you any good?" he asked practically chucking the ball at Kris.

"I think that's for you to figure out," she replied, catching the ball without flinching. 

After quick introductions, a three-on-three half court game was set up where Kris was on the opposite team as Alec and Dean. After about ten minutes of playing, Dean gave a quick behind the back pass to Alec who scored with an easy lay-up. 

"Damn, look at that dime..." Kris commented. She was guarding Dean which didn't make any sense considering she was the shortest and Dean was the tallest, but the other two guys didn't want to guard him.

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"Dime. Meaning a good pass. I was complimenting that play you made," she explained, not looking at Alec who was grinning. _Maybe I shouldn't have said that, it'll boost Alec's ego way too much_, she thought.

"Oh, you have weird slang," Dean said.

"Or you've been living in a cave," Kris teased. Dean smiled and threw the ball at her playfully. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess could hear laughing by the school and went to check it out. He saw Dean on top of Kris on the ground, both laughing hysterically with guys around them laughing as well. Jess suddenly got jealous. _Jealous of Dean, the Neanderthal? What is wrong with me?_

The next thing he knew, he was walking over to the group who obviously had been playing basketball. He overheard the conversation Kris and Dean were having on the ground.

"What do you think you were doing?" Dean asked, laughing.

"Well, I was trying to defend against you, but your legs are too long, you freak!" Kris replied. 

"Excuse me, it's not my fault my skills are so far superior to yours that you have to ram into me..."

"Oh, you wish," Kris said. "Now, if you don't mind, you're heavy."

Dean blushed and got off her, helping her up, still chuckling. He turned around and his expression instantly changed. Jess approached them.

"What do you want?" Dean asked fiercely. "We already have an even number of players."

"Gosh darn, I was so looking forward to kicking your ass too..." Jess replied.

Dean practically lunged at him but Alec held him back. "What do you want?" Alec asked in the same distrusting tone Dean used.

"Luke needs Kris at the diner," Jess lied, looking at Alec.

"Oh, did I go past my break time?" Kris asked. She panicked, it wasn't smart to screw up badly on her first day of work. Jess and Dean ignored her question. 

"He's a liar," Dean said, never taking his eyes off Jess. Dean was now face-to-face with Jess and towered over him, trying to intimidate him with his height. "If Luke needed people at the diner so much, then why aren't you working?"

Jess knew Dean was trying to corner him in a lie. "Were you not just listening? I went out to get Kris," he said passively. His self-assurance enraged Dean.

Kris sensed this confrontation had a lot more behind it than it showed. She would have to ask Lane about it later. 

"Uh, I should go," Kris said uncomfortably, moving towards Jess. 

"No," Dean said, grabbing Kris' elbow gently. 

Kris turned around and frowned. _Is he being selfish or protective? _"I should go," Kris repeated. "Thanks for the game, I'll see you guys later." She smiled and Jess had already turned around. Dean shook his head, knowing Jess was lying. 

"Fine, later," Dean said angrily. 

Kris frowned again and followed Jess to the gates. He didn't look at her or in any way acknowledged her existence. 

The chain link fence was locked. Jess looked up, it couldn't have been more than nine feet high. He was used to climbing fences. "I guess we hafta jump the fence," he said casually, looking at her and anticipating her fearful expression.

She returned his gaze and smirked. "Do you realize that's the first thing you've said to me since I got here in this damn town?" She didn't wait for a reply but climbed up the fence, straddled the top and jumped gracefully down. 

Jess smiled slightly, watching her climb. "Guess so," he whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk back to Luke's was in complete silence. Jess wondered why he had gone to all that effort to get Kris away from Dean, and Kris wondered why Jess was so angry. _What happened to him? _she thought.Jess prayed that there would be a crowd at Luke's so it would justify his lie and that Kris wasn't conscientious enough to apologize to Luke for taking a break during a busy diner time. 

The first of Jess' prayers was answered--there were quite a lot of people at Luke's and no one talked to each other until about eight at night. 

"You did a great job today, Kris. Do you realize that you worked longer than an eight hour shift? I hafta pay you overtime," Luke said.

"Oh, don't worry about it. The less time I hafta spend in that house, the better," she replied while finishing mopping the floor. 

Jess looked at her for a second, wondering what she meant, but Luke seemed to understand. 

"Sorry I took a break when the diner was busy, Luke. It didn't look busy, but it was around dinner time and I should have known. Sorry Jess had to go and look for me," Kris added.

_Damn! _Jess thought. 

Luke looked up from the cash register, a quizzical expression on his face. He looked at Jess whom met his glance for a second before returning to wipe the tables. 

"Uh, no problem, really. Uh, I'm, uh, just glad that Jess found you." Luke said. 

Jess smiled, sometimes his uncle surprised him in a good way.

"Okay, well, I should go now. Mrs. Kim is gonna be pissed, but whatever," Kris said, setting the mop aside.

"Why do you call her Mrs. Kim?" Jess asked. This was the second thing he ever said to her.

"Because an aunt is supposed to love you," Kris replied bluntly. "See you guys tomorrow." She left abruptly, leaving behind a confused Jess and saddened Luke.

"So, you went to go look for her?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, saw her playing basketball," Jess replied shortly.

"With Dean?"

"Uh, yeah, he was one of the guys."

"And you pulled her away from playing?"

"Look, the diner was busy."

"You didn't even know, you were out. Don't think I don't know that you took seven breaks today."

"Okay, whatever." Jess threw the rag down in the back sink and walked towards the stairs. 

"Hey, listen to me. Kris is going through a really rough time. She hides it well, but still. I don't want you and Dean to be butting heads over her like she's some prize," Luke said. 

Jess was pissed. His uncle had no idea what he was talking about...right? "Okay, whatever," Jess repeated walking up the stairs. 


	3. Town Reaction

Jess climbed out of his room and headed towards his sacred bridge. It must have been about two in the morning and he hadn't gotten any sleep the entire night. The air was cold but he could have cared less--too much stuff on his mind. _Why do I care so much about what Kris or Rory of whoever else does? I'm wasting my time._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She could hear footsteps and began to panic. It was late at night and she was alone, unarmed. She was sitting with her legs dangling, there was no way she could escape and run in time. She gripped her flashlight tightly and swung her body towards the approaching danger, lighting his face.

"Shit! You scared the crap out of me!" Kris yelled at Jess. Jess winced at the bright light on his face. Kris turned her light back to her book and resumed reading now that her heart was beating at its normal pace again.

"Get out."

"Excuse you?" Kris replied, turning the light back to Jess' standing figure about a foot away from her. He didn't wince this time.

"Get out."

"Huh. Last time I checked, lemme see, that was probably an hour ago, this was public property. There were no 'Jess' bridge' signs anywhere. Say, can they make those kinds of signs in this town? You know, like engraved signs and stuff? Hmm, maybe Taylor has a store like that..." Kris thoughts trailed off on the ridiculous subject. She wasn't expecting to be so rudely interrupted and didn't know what to say; her sarcasm needed work. When in doubt, be sarcastic...that's what one of her friends had told her back home.

"Get out. Now." Jess replied impatiently. 

Kris looked up to find Jess' body completely rigid, his stance unwelcoming. She got up, looked his straight in the eye, which was difficult because she was 5'5, and silently dared him to say something else to her. He said nothing. She saw walls, lots of walls in his eyes which reminded her of herself. For a fleeting second she pitied him but then became angry at his request, it wasn't like they couldn't share the bridge. _Sharing is caring_, she thought wryly. 

After a long staring contest, where neither broke his or her angry glare, Kris said, "Fine." She turned around and walked away. 

Jess exhaled and looked down, Kris' book was there. He picked it up, _Pygmalion_, and began reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A beautiful woman walked into the diner early the next day. Kris was drawn to her overabundance of energy and observed that Jess shied away from this person. This woman walked up to the counter, uncomfortably waiting to be served.

Kris walked behind the counter. "Hi, what can I get for you?"

The woman looked at her and the same surprised expression washed over her face just like it did on Dean's yesterday. Kris became annoyed but tried to remain friendly. "Well, coffee, please. And Danish, cherry," she replied.

"Alright," Kris said, pouring this woman a cup of coffee. 

"I'm Lorelai Gilmore," the woman said, sticking out her long arm towards Kris.

"Kris Fujimoto." _Lorelai Gilmore, mother of Rory Gilmore, coffee fanatic who often goes off on major tangents when having a conversation. Had Rory when she was 16 and enjoys flirting with Luke. Thank you, Lane...._

"You're new," Lorelai commented.

"Yes, Ms. Gilmore."

"Call me Lorelai," Lorelai said, taking a large gulp of coffee. "So, when did you come?"

"Two days ago."

"Where are you staying?" 

"With my cousin Lane and her mother."

Lorelai took note of this weird phrasing of Mrs. Kim and Lane. "So, Mrs. Kim is you aunt?"

"I suppose," Kris replied shortly, hinting that she didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"How long?" Lorelai didn't mean to give this girl the third degree, but the last new person in town was Jess, making her wary of newcomers ever since.

"The stay? Well, a year, I gonna be a senior in high school."

"Oh! My daughter is going to be too." Lorelai laughed. "She's in D.C. right now and wants to go to Harvard...and I can't believe I'm gloating about it...sorry," Lorelai said, taking another gulp of coffee and a bite of her Danish.

"That's fine, Harvard is an amazing school. You should be extremely proud she is setting her standards so high," Kris said.

"I am. But anyway, what about you? College plans? This summer is important for prep for college."

"I wanted to go to Stanford for the longest time." 

"Wow, that's very impressive."

"Only if I get accepted," Kris replied smiling.

Lorelai liked this girl, she had spunk. At that point, Luke came out from the kitchen. He had been stuck there cooking because Cesar wasn't there today. Lorelai immediately tensed up. _Hm, not my idea of flirting..._

"Hi, Luke. How's it going?" Lorelai asked politely.

"Fine, thanks for asking," Luke replied neutrally. "You've met Kris?"

"Yes I have."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Kris felt really uncomfortable standing in the middle of all this. "Well, it's nice to meet you Lorelai," she said filling Lorelai's coffee cup and moving way to fill up more cups.

"Yeah, likewise. When Rory comes back, you guys hafta talk colleges."

"Sure."

Lorelai turned towards Luke after Kris left. "Luke, I'm sorry about blowing up again. I just didn't know Jess was going to come back after the accident, I was quite happy without him here. I didn't mean to attack you, but I'm scared. What happens when Rory comes back?"

"I dunno Lorelai, but Jess needs to be here. It's a hell-hole in New York and he'll do better here. He's actually taking summer school to get his grades up. Can you believe it? I'm not saying that Rory's well-being comes second, but I'm also not going to let Jess' well-being come second either. We'll just have to see."

"Alright, fine, as much as I don't like it," Lorelai said, taking another bite of Danish. "I'm glad we're talking again. Going a week without talking to you is hard," she admitted.

"Yeah, same here."

"Now, Lukey, honey, coffee?" Lorelai asked coyly.

"No."

"Ah, Luke, oh god of coffee...please?" Lorelai shouted as Luke went to serve paying customers.

"No." 

"Luke..."

_Hm, there's flirting..._Kris thought happily. She had no idea why it was so tense back there, but didn't have time to ponder. Customers came in.

A large woman in heavy make-up came in with a blond woman and. Both gave disapproving glances to Jess and looked at Kris with sympathy. She walked over to them, "Can I take your orders?"

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. Your mom used to take dance classes with me when she was a little girl when I just started the dance studio. Absolutely beautiful dancer, truly had a gift..." the overly-made-up woman said.

"Um, thanks," Kris said uncomfortably. Word really did travel fast here, too fast for Kris' liking. 

"And darling, if you ever need any advice, like who to stay away from in this town," the blond lady said, making an over-exaggerated glance to Jess, "let us know. We'll be more than happy to help you."

"Um, thanks," Kris repeated.

"Oh! Goodness, where are our manners? I'm Miss Patty and this is Babette. You are Kris, correct?"

"Yes, Miss Patty." _Miss Patty, owner of the local dance studio, though she herself doesn't seem to dance much. Loves to flirt with anyone of the male species whose hobbies include setting up people for failure in love. Babette, her faithful friend who loved giving advice but often doesn't bother listening to others when they politely tell her to stop. I really need to buy Lane a drum set or something..._

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For the next several days people came into the diner to offer their condolences for Kris' lose. Everyone had some story to tell about Kris' mother, none to tell about her father, but that didn't surprise Kris. She could have cared less about what these people had to say about her parents anyways. _If they were so sorry or whatever, why didn't they come to the funeral? _

It was like she was an anomaly, some freak everyone wanted to see and made the excuse of a condolence to meet her. In a few short days she became the town pity, and that angered her to no end. The last thing she needed were people she didn't care about pitying her. It was disgusting. Every time someone glanced at her and talked to her soothingly, she wanted to scream. Every single day made her remember her parents and the pain and the loneliness instead of keeping her mind off them. She was losing her grip on her temper and patience.

The next Thursday night (she had arrived on that previous Saturday) she was cleaning up the diner with Jess while Luke was over at Lorelai's house fixing the sink once again. She apparently threw too much garbage down the sink and it got clogged. Jess had not said a word to Kris ever since the incident at the bridge and Kris didn't care. _Screw giving him a chance, I was nice to him and he treats me like dirt. So forget it, _she thought while wiping the tables. 

"You left Pygmalion by the bridge before," Jess said abruptly, breaking the tense silence.

"Oh, okay, whatever, I finished it."

"Here you go," Jess said, ignoring her statement, taking the small book from his back pocket and handing it to her.

"Thanks," she said taking it. She saw unfamiliar scribbles on the margins and looked at it closer. "You wrote in it?" she asked casually.

Jess interpreted her question as disapproval. "Yeah. I write notes when I read. It's in pencil though, so you can erase it."

"It's fine, whatever." Kris walked over to put the book into her bag. She didn't want to talk to Jess anymore.

"Look, sorry about what I said over at the bridge," Jess said, looking up from mopping and straight at her. It took him four days to suck in his pride enough to apologize. He still wasn't sure why he reacted the way he did, but he knew it surprised him to see her there and he didn't want to deal with her at that exact second in time. 

"Okay," Kris replied coldly.

Jess got pissed. He apologized and she could have cared less. "What is your problem anyway?" he asked her cruelly.

"Listen, we all have our own problems we hafta deal with. I'd rather not hafta deal with the shit you pull on top of my own crap, simple as that," she explained nonchalantly. She wasn't going to play games with him and attack him like the people of this town did. She just wasn't going to care. "Later," she said, walking out the doors.

Jess was left rather flustered, but at least Kris was gone before he showed how he felt. He quickly recovered, finished the mopping and left the diner.

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Author's Note: Please read and review! That would be great!!


	4. Respect

"Kris! Get down here right now!" Mrs. Kim yelled at the foot of the stairs.

Kris strolled down the stairs casually. "Yes?"

"Why is the whole town talking about you?"

"Because I'm new and this town has nothing better to do," Kris replied as if it were the most obvious answer.

"It unearths shame in the family! People start to remember what happened years ago. I don't want that."

"But it's not my fault. And nothing shameful happened. I can't help it if people remember," Kris grew impatient.

"I don't want you talking about anything, do you understand me?"

"Yeah, whatever. I'm late for work," Kris replied, walking out the door of the antique shop and to Luke's.

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When she went in, Jess was behind the counter and Luke was no where in sight. There were only a few customers since it was early in the morning. She needed something to make her forget about her stupid aunt.

"Coffee," Kris said, sitting on a stool where customers sat.

"Last time I checked, hmm, that must have been last night, you worked here," Jess replied sarcastically. 

Kris laughed, remembering she had said something like that at the bridge. _Payback's a bitch_, she thought. "I'll pay," she said, taking out a dollar and pushing in towards Jess.

Jess didn't expect her to laugh. He expected her to curse at him, throw something at him, but not laugh. He wasn't pissed at her anymore, in fact he never really was. She had a point last night. He knew perfectly well that he liked to play games, get people flustered, it always worked so well with Rory. Not with Kris. _I respect that, actually, _he thought. Maybe it was because she was the first person to ever tell him what was on her mind completely.

__

"Jess, coffee?" Kris asked tentatively, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Right." He poured her a mug and shoved the dollar back at her. "You work here, coffee is free."

Kris smiled, taking a long sip. "Coffee here sure is good. No wonder Lorelai comes here so often. Though drinking that much coffee must do something to you."

Jess smirked but didn't answer. The mention of Lorelai made him think of Rory, something he really didn't want to do. 

"So...are we cool?" Kris asked. She expected Jess to be cold with her today after what she said, but he was actually sort of friendly, which puzzled her. Did she want to be friends with Jess? She wasn't sure, but if he was going to be nice to her, it couldn't hurt. If he was going to be a jerk to her again, it wouldn't work-she wasn't going to deal with that. 

"Yeah," Jess said looking up to her.

"Cool," Kris said, taking another sip. 

"I gotta go to school. Luke's in the shower, he should be out soon. But you're in charge for now. Later," Jess said, leaving the diner without a backpack or anything. 

That afternoon, the diner began to fill up with people. Kris was overwhelmed by the amount of orders she had to take and serve and the amount of coffee she had to pour. Jess didn't look much better. By about four, the crowd died down and Kris sat on a stool, her head on the counter, completely exhausted. 

"It's never that busy," Kris complained, her muffled voice coming from her head on the counter. 

"Why don't you two take a break? It's not busy, I'll be fine," Luke suggested.

"Thanks," Kris said, slowly getting off of the stool and going out the door. Jess quickly followed her out.

She expected him to go in a different direction than she did, but instead he walked up right beside her. They walked slowly in silence, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It seemed to Kris that Jess actually respected what she had said last night. 

"Ug, I'm thirsty," Kris said while walking. 

"Free soda at Luke's," Jess suggested.

"No, there's no Cherry Coke there. I'll buy it at Doose's." They were right in front of the store anyways.

Kris went inside and Jess hesitated. "Are you coming in?" Kris asked, slightly annoyed.

Jess thought for a second and nodded. Kris went over to the refrigerated beverages while Jess mingled in the candy isle. Dean was stocking the Sprites in the cooler when Kris approached.

"Hey, Kris," Dean said happily.

"Oh, hi Dean. I didn't know you worked here. How can you stand Taylor?" she whispered playfully.

Dean laughed. "Well, it's not that bad. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, can I get a Cherry Coke?" They were right next to the Sprites and Dean was blocking the way.

"Oh, okay." Dean handed her one. "Listen, Kris, I was wondering, do you wanna catch a movie tomorrow?"

"Um, is Alec going to be there? I'd rather not deal with him." 

"No, no, I was thinking just the two of us," Dean said, not looking at her.

Kris stiffened. "As in a date?" she asked. _Wasn't this "Dean the amazing boyfriend of Rory's?"_

"Well, uh, no, I mean...no," Dean stumbled. 

"I don't think it's a good idea, Dean. You have a girlfriend and I'm the new girl. How would that look? Not that I really care what this crazy town has to say about me, but it would probably make my life harder," Kris rambled. This was really uncomfortable. "But thanks for the offer," she quickly added. Kris smiled up at Dean, who looked completely embarrassed, and walked towards the register where Taylor was rolling pennies in paper.

"Why hello Kris!" Taylor said cheerfully. Ever since her compliment regarding his store her first day of work, Taylor had been extremely courteous to Kris. _At least no town meeting will be called to discuss me..._she thought.

"Hi Taylor, how are you?" Kris asked politely.

"Fine, fine. Will that be all?" he asked, pointing to the Cherry Coke.

"Um, hold on. Jess!" Kris yelled, outside of the vicinity of Taylor's ear.

Jess' head popped out of the isle and he walked over to her at the register, holding some gummy worms. Taylor frowned, but Kris didn't notice. "Want those?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. 

She grabbed the candy out of his hand and gave it to Taylor. "These too please," she said sweetly. 

Taylor glared at Jess who ignored him, keeping his eyes on the gummy worms. Dean looked over at the cash register, feeling angered, dejected, and ashamed all at the same time.

"Meet you outside," Jess said, not waiting for a response.

When he left, Taylor leaned over and whispered to Kris, "You know, I would hate for a sweet girl like you to get caught up in his mess. It would be a shame!"

"I'll be fine, Taylor, but thanks you for your concern," Kris said, paying him for the Cherry Coke and gummy worms and leaving.

As promised, Jess was outside, smoking. She looked at him and smirked, pulling the cigarette from his fingers, dropping it on the cement, and grounding it out. "Those things kill," she commented casually. 

"Aren't you gonna pick that up?" Jess asked.

Kris smiled mischivously, thought about it for a second, and walked off. 

"You know, I'm gonna be blamed for it," Jess said catching up to her.

"You should. You're completely killing your body with those."

"Whatever," Jess said.

Kris stopped walking and turned to him. "It's not whatever, Jess. People die. My great-aunt on my father's side died of emphysema cause she smoked for so long," she replied passionately. "The amount of pain she had to go through...it was terrible, Jess."

Jess shifted uncomfortably. "Alright," he said, taking out his cigarette pack from his jacket pocket and handing them to her. He had no idea why he was doing this. Luke tried to get him to quit, buying him those patches, gums, and what-not, but he could have cared less then. _Why do I care now?_

Kris took them, threw them violently into the garbage can, and smiled at Jess. "It's not going to be easy to quit, if that's what you're panning to do." 

"Well, eating some gummy worms would help."

Kris laughed and tossed him the candy. He opened them up, offered her some, and grabbed a handful to stuff into his mouth.

"Dude, that's disgusting!" Kris said, almost choking on her Cherry Coke while looking at Jess who had a bright blue and yellow worm sticking out of his mouth. She laughed and he did too, though he snorted mostly since his mount was full.

"Dude?" he mocked after he chewed and swallowed the candy.

"Yeah, so? I say 'dude' a lot. It's quite common. You must have been living in a cave with Dean," she said.

Jess expression turned sour and Kris kicked herself for mentioning Dean. She forgot to ask Lane about Dean and Jess. "That reminds me," he said casually, "what was up with you and the Neanderthal at Doose's?"

"Neanderthal? That's not very considerate. But to answer your question, he asked me to go to the movies with him and I declined." 

Jess wasn't expecting a straight answer. With Rory it took a while to get information out of her, unless it was regarding a book. "As in a date?" he asked.

"No."

"Then why did you decline? It would be dark in the theatre, so you would have to look at his caveman face," he commented.

"Didn't want to go," she replied, ignoring his last comment and taking an orange and red gummy worm. "I'm changing the subject now. Why did you act like such a jerk to me at the bridge and then so nice to me now?"

Jess shrugged. "Dunno."

"Don't give me that crap."

"What do you want me to say?"

"The trust, duh."

"I didn't want to see you there at the bridge. I go there to be alone. Seeing you pissed me off. But what you said to me yesterday is true, and I respect that you told me what you thought outright. So, I'm Mr. Rogers now."

"So, every time you don't want to see me, you're gonna be a brat like that?"

"No, I'll just tell you to get out nicely," Jess replied. 

"And it's once again a beautiful day in the neighborhood!" Kris joked. "But on a serious note: do you not want me to go to the bridge? I can respect that, though it is one of the prettier places here."

"No, it's cool, you just caught me off guard." Jess didn't want to mention the fact that he was thinking of her when he saw her there and got flustered. And she didn't press it.

"Good. We should head back to the diner."

"Luke'll be fine," Jess said.

"No, we should go back." She turned around to go back to Luke's and Jess followed. 

Outside the entrance of Luke's, Mrs. Kim was waiting impatiently. "What are you doing with that boy?" she asked indignantly.

"Taking a break," replied Kris. "What do you want?"

Jess could feel the tension and didn't know if he should go into the diner or not. It looked busy inside, but ditching Kris with her crazy aunt didn't seem appropriate. _Since when do I care about appropriateness? _As if Kris read his mind, she said, "Jess, Luke looks like he could use some help."

"Right," he replied, walking into the diner, but leaving the door slightly ajar so he could hear what was gong on outside.

"Where's Kris?" Luke asked, not looking up from the counter. The binds were up, so everyone inside the diner could see the two women outside, if they chose to. 

"Outside, with Mrs. Kim."

Luke's head shot up to look at them. 

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Author's Note: Please read and review, that'd be great! Thanks!!


	5. Confrontaton

"Again, what are you doing with that boy?" Mrs. Kim asked.

"I told you, we went to take a break. The diner was really crowded and then when it wasn't we went out. No big deal," Kris replied impatiently.

"No big deal? Do you want to end up like you mother?" Mrs. Kim asked.

"Actually, yeah. If I could be half as happy as she was with my father, I would be blessed!"

"You don't know what you are talking about," Mrs. Kim warned.

"That's funny, cause I could have sworn I was living with them for the past sixteen years. Where were you?" Kris was angry now, her aunt had no idea what she was talking about.

"Your mother would have been a doctor! It was her dream!" Mrs. Kim yelled, taking a different line of attack in the argument

"Wrong! It was your dream, your mother's dream, your father's dream! Never my mom's dream! You people never bothered to ask her what her dream was, you just assumed!" Kris yelled back. Jess, Luke, and the customers could hear this argument very clearly. Taylor peeped out the door of his store to see what the commotion was about and Dean followed suit. 

"If your mother hadn't gotten pregnant by that Jap, who..." Mrs. Kim yelled.

Kris cut her off. Now she was furious. "Don't you dare call my father that! Ever! Do you understand me? He was a great man, responsible, loving, hard-working. He was a third generation _Japanese_ _American_, his grandmother was interned at Gila River during World War II. He had nothing to do with what went down in Korea during the invasion! His family was here! But you and your parents were so blinded by hatred, you didn't bother to get to know him for who he was rather than what he was. My mother could see it in him and that's what matters!"

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Mrs. Kim replied, shocked. No one ever raised his or her voice to her.

"Then don't look at me with disgust! You look at me as though I were some terrible mistake, some blasphemous mistake. How do you think that feels? You don't even know me and you judge me. You haven't tried to make this move any easier for me or yourself. I don't have a home! L.A. isn't my home, your house definitely isn't a home, I can't even imagine how Lane survived living with you for so long."

"Don't tell me about my own daughter!"

"Somebody has to, cause you don't bother to even know her! Do you know what she likes to do? Do you know what she wants to be when she grows up? Do you know her favorite food? Your so busy trying to make sure that she doesn't (God forbid) turn out like your baby sister that you don't even know her. She's a beautiful, talented, intelligent, thoughtful seventeen year old girl, no, woman. But you cage her for fear that she'll go off and marry a non-Korean and ruin her life, supposedly just like my mother did. Where in fact my mother was probably happier that you ever could imagine!" 

Mrs. Kim looked at Kris for one quick second, her piercing eyes full of anger. She then stormed off to her shop, oblivious of the scene they had created.

Kris stood there in shock. She knew one day she and her aunt would butt heads, but she didn't think it would be in front of almost the entire town and only a week into her stay in Pleasantville. Now the entire town probably knew the background behind what happened seventeen years ago. She couldn't allow herself to cry, to show weakness. She inhaled deeply and entered the diner. 

All heads turned away from her, as if they heard nothing. She walked up to the counter, "Luke, I need to use the bathroom."

"Uh, yeah, you know where it is, upstairs, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Are you okay, do you want anything?" Luke asked cautiously. Her face seemed vacant as though she didn't want anyone to know what she was feeing. 

She smiled weakly. "I'm fine, be back in a sec." She climbed up the stairs and out of sight.

The whole diner started buzzing about the scene outside.

"That all makes sense now, what happened when Jessica left with Aaron."

"I can't believe Kris said those things to Mrs. Kim. The nerve that girl has..."

"But she lost her parents. I feel bad for the poor dear."

"We don't need outbursts like that in our town. What will the tourists think?"

"She's just so different from the rest of us. No wonder she likes spending time with Jess."

"She spends time with Jess?"

"Yes, of course, I saw her going out of Doose's with him."

"Well, that's just a shame."

"What was Taylor thinking, telling us what a sweet girl she is?"

"That girl will become corrupted by that delinquent."

Jess felt like he was going to be sick. He stupidly left the door open so he could hear what was going on; he was just so curious about Kris and her past. He had no idea there was going to be a shouting contest. Now the whole diner was buzzing about her, thinking she was a terrible person because of her association with him, and it was disgusting. Luke looked upset too. 

"The town can be so cruel," Lorelai commented sadly, drinking some coffee. 

"Alright! Food and drinks on the house. Everyone out of here now. You had your entertainment for the day! Out, out!" Luke said, shooing the customers out. He was disappointed that the town would judge Kris like that, just like they had judged Jess. 

After all the customers left, Lorelai asked, "Okay, what were they talking about out there? I guess we moved in after it happened."

"Well, Jessica was the little sister of Mrs. Kim. She was about eight years younger. When she was twenty, she became pregnant with Kris by a guy named Aaron Fujimoto. He kept to himself, lived in Stars Hollow for his whole life and Jessica and he got along well and remained friends in college. When Jessica told her family what happened and that she and Aaron were going to get married, the Kim household became furious. Jessica would be leaving college to raise the baby, ending any chance of being a doctor. Mrs. Kim, who actually was pregnant at the time with Lane, told her that if she married Aaron, she would disown her as a sister because she would be with a Japanese man. The parents agreed with Mrs. Kim as well. Jessica tried to reason with her parents and sister. This all happened right in front of people in the town. They obviously still remember. Well, Jessica and Aaron left and the Kims disowned Jessica. She came back, about a year later to say hello and settle a few things. Jessica said that she, Aaron and the baby were living at Aaron's aunt's house in Los Angeles and she wasn't going to come back again. She was hurt that her parents didn't want to see their own granddaughter. And that was the last time I ever saw her."

Wow, what a sad story," Lorelai said. Luke filled up her cup of coffee. "But what about the stuff Kris said? About internment?"

Luke was about to explain, but Jess cut in, "The Japanese on the West Coast were interned during World War II because the government thought they were spies. That's really bullshit, they just wanted to blame someone for Pearl Harbor and the Japanese were easy to spot. Over two thirds of those who were interned were American citizens. Kris said that to prove that her father's family had no ties to what happened during the Japanese invasion of Korea, because his family had been here the entire time as American citizens. While Japan was taking over all of Asia, Japanese soldiers would rape and brutalize Korean women called Comfort Women. It was terrible and the people of Korea hated the Japanese for this and the invasion in general. The Japanese government tried to cover it up. Mrs. Kim's family obviously still doesn't like Japanese people here in America, regardless of their lack of involvement in that terrible thing, which I really can't blame them for either. I mean, it was a really, really bad thing Japan did."

Luke and Lorelai looked at him shocked. "How'd you know that?" Luke said admirably.

"Summer school," Jess replied, smirking. 

Kris came back downstairs to find the place completely empty except for Jess, Luke, and Lorelai. "Um, where did everyone go?" she asked quietly.

They all turned to her. "I closed up the diner early," Luke said.

"But the dinner rush is coming, why'd you do that for?" she asked.

"We get tired of the town people sometimes," Lorelai said smiling. She admired the girl. 

"You didn't have to do that, Luke," Kris said, understanding why he did it.

"No big deal," he said, brushing it off.

Kris sat down on a stool and Jess got her some coffee. "Thanks," she said. He nodded.

"Wanna talk about anything?" Lorelai asked sweetly. 

"No, I talked enough back there," Kris replied emptily.

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Author's Note: Please review! 


	6. Hiding Emotions

Author's note: Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it. School's starting soon, so I doubt I'll be able to update often. Please bare with me. I made this chapter extra long to compensate though. Hope you enjoy, and please review!

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"Lane! It's Rory!" Mrs. Kim yelled.

"Got it, thanks Mom!" Lane shouted back from her room, picking up the phone.

"Rory?" Lane asked excitedly. Rory had been in D.C. for three weeks and hadn't called when Lane was allowed to speak on the phone. Apparently Mrs. Kim was in a generous mood that particular Saturday night and allowed her daughter to talk with her best friend. 

"Lane!" the voice on the other line yelled with joy.

"How are you? How's D.C.? Did you check out any music stores? Can you price the drum sets there for me?" Lane asked excitedly.

"Um, I'm fine. D.C.'s okay. I haven't checked out any music stores, but will try. And I will try to price the drum sets here," Rory replied happily.

"Great! Thanks so much!" Lane gushed.

"So, how are you? I've called before, but you couldn't talk, your mom said."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry 'bout that. But I'm doing alright. Did I tell you that my cousin is living with me now?" 

"WHAT? No, you didn't. I don't recall any cousin news. Who is he/she? When did this happen?"

"Well, her name is Kris. She's my mom's sister's daughter. She used to live in Los Angeles. Her parents died six weeks ago and she moved here despite my aunt trying to find somewhere else for her to stay. She wanted to finish out her school year in L.A. and so she stayed with family friends for the month before she moved here. She's been here two weeks now and has already gotten into a fight with my mom, a big fight," Lane explained sadly.

"Oh, that's so sad about her parents. I mean, if my mom died...uh, I don't even want to think about it..." Rory replied.

Lane could almost feel Rory shutter across the telephone line. "I didn't know anything until a few days before she moved here. My mom told me her sister died, but she didn't seem too upset, apparently they parted on really bad terms sixteen year ago," Lane added.

"I see, but how is she? How old is she? Do you think she's interesting?"

"I like her a lot. She's very nice to people, but doesn't like to be bossed round, which is why she and my mom butt heads a lot. She usually stays out of the house, except for sleeping. She spends practically all of her time at Luke's working. I think she doesn't want to deal with my mom or her own problems. She acts pretty tough when she needs to, but you can tell her hurts inside. She'll be a senior like us when school starts, attending good old Stars Hollow High." 

"She works in the diner?" Rory asked innocently. The diner reminded her of Jess whom she hadn't talked to the entire time she was in Washington. The kiss still lingered in her memory, but she couldn't gather the nerve to talk to him. What would she say? She finally admitted to herself that she did have more-than-friends-feelings for Jess, but the situation was just so...complicated.

"Yeah, she works like twelve hour shifts. It's really crazy. I rarely see her except for when she comes in to sleep and we talk occasionally. I think she needs a lot of space," Lane said.

"Oh, well, uh, how's the diner?" Rory asked lamely.

"You mean, how is Jess?" Lane asked irritated.

"Oh, well, Jess is involved with the diner, so, yes, how is Jess doing?" Rory rambled.

"He's fine, Rory," Lane replied shortly.

"Oh, okay," Rory said, understanding that Lane didn't want to talk about him.

"Why are you so interested anyway? You have a wonderful boyfriend," Lane couldn't resist asking. She started to fear that Rory liked Jess. Like the rest of the town, she didn't think it was a good idea to get involved with him. Her cousin seemed to have befriended him; she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Lane couldn't help but worry Jess would hurt Kris or Rory, but then again, she trusted their judgment...to a certain extent.

"He's my friend, Lane. I like to know how my friends are doing," Rory explained rationally.

"You could call him," Lane suggested calmly.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. 

"Rory?"

"I can't do that, Lane. I kissed him."

"WHAT?" Lane yelled. 

"Lane! Keep it down!" Mrs. Kim yelled from downstairs.

"Sorry mom," Lane yelled down to the first floor. "What?" Lane whispered into the receiver.

"I know, I know. I can't believe I did that. I'm a terrible person, terrible," Rory rambled on the other end. 

Lane's attitude softened. Rory was hurting and she had to help her out. "You're not a terrible person, don't ever think that. When did this happen?"

"Right before Sookie's wedding," Rory mumbled.

"I see. Well, how did you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you feel something when you kissed him?"

"No," Rory replied too hastily to be the truth. There was a pause, then, "Yes," Rory admitted. "But I love Dean," she insisted. The thought of being without Dean scared her.

"Wow, okay, well, you have to tell Dean this," Lane said sadly. She had always thought Rory and Dean would last for a really long time, and the reality that Rory had feelings for Dean _and_ Jess hit her hard.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Dean, I kissed Jess. I felt a lot in that one kiss. But, I still love you, so don't worry about it?" Rory pleaded.

"I'm not sure, but you hafta say something. This is serious, Rory."

"I'll wait till I get home, if I say anything at all. Maybe the kiss was nothing, maybe I was just happy that Jess was back and that was the feeling I felt. I mean, that could be it," Rory replied nervously.

"Okay, Rory," Lane said soothingly. 

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Kris walked into the diner on a Sunday morning; it had been one week since the "big scene" with her aunt, and all the heads in the diner still glanced furtively at her and then away. She sighed with agitation, but sucked it up and began working. It's not like she cared about what these people had to say about her or to her, but she had gone from being treated like a porcelain doll to a deadly virus. People didn't smile at her when she smiled at them, they didn't want to talk to her or lend advice anymore. 

"Hey," Kris said to Jess during a lull in customers. "How long does this 'You have leprosy so we want nothing to do with you' treatment last?" she asked casually. 

She and Jess had achieved an unspoken agreement that they had each other's backs ever since Kris' fight with her aunt. Usually Jess stood up for Kris by being extremely sarcastic to customers who avoided her, and Kris got him out of trouble with Luke for taking an excessive amount of breaks.

"Well, I'm still a leper," Jess replied, smirking. Kris suppressed a laugh.

Taylor came in, giving Luke a piece of his mind about hiring people who created such raucous. 

"I mean, honestly Luke, first Jess, who chalks dead bodies in front of my store and now the unstable Kris who goes ballistic in front of your diner. Who knows when she's going to explode with rage again? Really Luke, with the quality of your workers in your diner, I'm surprised that you even have customers at all!" Taylor managed to get this out of his mouth before Luke yelled and shooed him out of the diner.

Jess looked over at Kris who was refilling the salt shakers at that moment, trying really hard to ignore what Taylor said about her, but Jess could see her twitch with hurt when Taylor called her 'unstable.'

"Hey, can I get some coffee?" an energetic voice popped up. Kris looked up from refilling the salt to see Lorelai smiling at her on a stool.

"Sure," Kris replied, getting a mug and coffee. "I'm surprised you're talking to me. Apparently the rest of town has officially deemed me 'unstable.' They've done a good job of making me feel like that for the whole week."

"Yeah, well, it happens to the best of us," Lorelai said brushing it off. 

Kris couldn't help but smile, something she hadn't done the whole day. 

"So, how's Rory?" Kris asked resuming her previous task.

"She's doing great. She called last night telling me she had gone on a tour of the White House which she thought was really cool. She comes back in three weeks. She seems to be having a really nice time," Lorelai finished, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I'm sure she'd be having a better time if you were there," Kris replied_. This woman is really attached to her daughter..._she thought admirably.

"You get extra tip for that!" Lorelai replied, smiling.

Lorelai left after her routine flirting with Luke. Kris turned to Luke once Lorelai left a few hours later and said, "Luke, I'm taking my break."

Luke waved her off and she turned to leave. "Want me to come with you?" Jess asked indifferently.

"Oh, uh, no, it's okay. Thanks anyway. Need alone time," Kris replied.

"Okay, whatever." Kris didn't notice the disappointment in his voice.

Once outside, Kris headed for the rather empty town square. Walking on the grass, though Taylor would probably kill her for that, she couldn't help but pity herself. She didn't want anyone's pity, least of all her own, but the feeling just wouldn't go away. Too much crap had happened to her and shoving it away just didn't make it go away. She didn't have serving meals, cleaning counters, and refilling salt shakers to keep her mind off it all. _No, can't think of that now, I'll go back to work_, she thought, even though her break must have lasted only five minutes. 

"Weren't you on break?" Luke asked. He could have sworn that's what she had said.

"Yeah, came back early," Kris replied shortly before taking someone's order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Kris," a male voice said, breaking Kris out of her thoughts as she wiped the counter for probably the thirtieth time that day.

Instantly Kris was disappointed. "Hi Alec," she replied tersely. "What can I get for you?" She hadn't seen Alec since the first whole day she had been in Stars Hollow and played ball at the school. He was now dressed in a white muscle-tee and faded jeans.

"Hmmm, burger, fries, and a date with you Friday night," Alec replied arrogantly.

Kris rolled her eyes while taking down his order and replied, "I'm working Friday."

"What about Saturday?" Alec asked hopefully. 

She looked at him. He was attractive granted, but his attitude was unbearable. His beautiful crystal blue eyes just didn't make up for his bigheaded demeanor. What he probably viewed at flirty and irresistible Kris labeled just plain stupid. Plus, she wasn't used to this whole dating thing. Back in L.A., Kris had several guy friends but never a boyfriend, or, come to think of it, even a date. There was just never any time; she was so focus on school, basketball, and volleyball, that guys somehow simply fell through the cracks. Sure she minded that she had no dates, but she figured that was what college was for anyway. She certainly didn't want her first date to be with Alec.

"Working Saturday too," she replied.

"What day aren't you working?" Alec asked, placing his arms on the counter to display his rather toned biceps to Kris. 

"I work everyday," she replied, never taking her eyes off his. _Just to show him that I'm not tempted with buff arms_, she thought.

"Why do I not believe you?" he replied huskily.

Kris shrugged. She was going to reply what someone said, "Look, she obviously doesn't want to go out with you."

She turned around to find Jess behind her, a dirty rag over his shoulder and a patronizing expression on his face.

"I don't remember asking you to talk, Mariano," Alec replied, standing up to his full six foot height.

"You didn't," Jess replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But I suggest leaving her alone." He took the rag from his shoulder and rubbed his hands slowly with it.

"I'm going to take that as a threat," Alec warned, getting himself ready to fight with Jess. Jess was so laid-back about the whole situation that it angered Alec even more.

Kris was annoyed. This whole scene was something out of a teen movie. Before Jess could reply she simply said, "I forgot to ask you," her attention towards Alec, "did you want something to drink with your burger and fries?"

Alec looked at her, completely shocked by her question. His thoughts were on what Jess' face would look like with a bloody nose, and Kris brought him back into reality.

"Uh, Coke, please," Alec replied flustered, sitting down once again at the counter. Jess smirked and went upstairs. He was perfectly willing to beat the crap out of Alec if he hassled Kris more, but Kris seemed to handle the situation just fine. Besides, he didn't want to become an overprotective jerk like Dean. 

Alec didn't say anything to Kris during the remainder time he spent at the diner.

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"Kris," Luke said later once the diner was closed and it was time to clean up.

"Yeah?"

"Where's Jess?"

"He went upstairs about an hour ago," she replied.

"Oh, go get him, would ya? I hafta go to a stupid town meeting and I need you guys to clean up."

"Yeah, will do. What's the town meeting about?" Kris asked.

"Uh...dunno." _Luke lies poorly_, Kris thought. 

"Oh, so it's about me, eh?" Kris asked.

"Well, uh, apparently Taylor has some uh, issues to bring up and...yeah, yeah, it's about you and Jess," Luke confessed.

Kris was beyond frustrated but hid it with a smile. "Well, guess I should be flattered," she joked.

"You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" Luke said, trying to make her feel better.

"I doubt the rest of town agrees with you, or else they wouldn't have called this meeting," Kris replied logically.

"Well, I just want you to know that," Luke said uncomfortably.

"Thanks," Kris said. "See you later."

Luke left the diner and Kris went upstairs.

"Jess?" Kris called out. No answer. None of the apartment lights were on. "Jess?" she called out louder.

"Hmmm," someone grumbled, completely scaring Kris.

She felt the walls, fumbled for the light switch, and quickly turned it on. Brightness filled the room and the voice grumbled even louder.

"Geez, Jess, you freaked me out!" Kris yelled at the figure sprawled on a bed with a book on his chest. 

"I tend to have that affect on you," he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes and leaning on his elbows so that the book slid off onto the bed revealing his topless chest. 

"Oh so charming, even at the bridge and right after a nap," Kris commented dryly, turning towards Jess' bookcase, trying to hide her blush at finding Jess without a shirt on. _Keep your cool, Kris_, she thought to herself.

"What do you want?" Jess asked crankily, not noticing Kris' uneasiness.

"Luke went to a town meeting. We need to clean up downstairs," she replied, unfazed by his grouchy attitude.

"Oh...we didn't get invited?" Jess asked, feigning disappointment.

"Guess not," Kris replied coldly.

"Hey, I was joking. What's wrong?" Jess asked, motioning her to sit on the bed. Kris turned towards the still naked Jess and sat down on the bed, but not too close to him.

"I asked you a question," Jess said calmly. He seemed fully awake now.

"Sorry, Mr. Mariano, it won't ever happen again," Kris replied snidely. His unclothed chest and baggy dark blue jeans were really starting to get to her, and he had a very well toned body which she tried really hard not to stare at.

"Okay, I was in my Mr. Rogers mode, but obviously you don't give a damn," Jess replied annoyedly, moving to get off the bed.

"Wait," Kris whispered, grabbing Jess' arm lightly and looking at his eyes, his nakedness escaping her mind at that moment. "Sorry, it's just that the meeting is about me and apparently you. This whole town is getting to me. I haven't done anything to any of them. Why can't they just stay out of my business?" she asked him, on the verge of tears. She looked down to the bed sheets, too embarrassed at her weakness. She shouldn't waste her time crying over how this stupid town treated her. She expected Jess to make some sarcastic remark, but instead, he moved towards her and hugged her.

His action caught her totally off guard and Jess tried to remain calm, but he was pretty sure Kris could feel the pounding of his heart. She did notice, and it was matched by her equally fast heart beats. She felt so warm and protected, encased in Jess' bare skin, her arms wrapped around his neck and her head placed on his shoulder, trying to block out all her depressing thoughts. How could the town think this guy was so terrible? 

He knew how she felt, but in his case, he somewhat deserved the treatment he received. He did pull a lot of pranks on the town. She on the other hand, didn't deserve their suspicion, and he instinctively held her tighter to protect her from phantom towns people's criticism. 

After a few minutes, Jess pulled away, silently cursing himself for showing emotion towards Kris. He wasn't supposed to care about anything, least of all a girl he had known for only two weeks. Caring about a girl the last time left him with a memory of a kiss and a whole mess of confusion and resentment.

Kris inhaled deeply, much calmer and subdue than before the hug. She didn't cry. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Yeah, it's cool, whatever," Jess replied nonchalantly, moving off the bed and putting a gray shirt on. "We should clean up downstairs, before Luke comes back and gets pissed," he added. Any emotional remnants of the hug they shared was gone in his voice.

Kris sighed realizing Jess once again had his internal walls up. "Right, let's go," she said, matching his tone exactly. She got up and walked out of the room. Jess cringed at the indifference in her voice and followed her out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: Please review!


	7. The Kiss

"Kris, Kris, wake up! Kris!" a voice shouted, bring Kris out of her dream state. 

"What?" Kris replied hazily.

"It's one in the afternoon, Kris!" Lane said.

"Shit! I should have been at work at eight!" Kris cried out, bolting out of her bed and to the bathroom. 

While Kris was in the bathroom, Lane looked around Kris' room. She hadn't been in there often, but it looked almost exactly like it did the first day Kris came...and it had been over two weeks since then. Huge brown boxes were shoved in the corners of her room, labeled "Kris' books," "Kris' winter clothes," "Kris' stuffed animals and Beanie Babies," and "Kris' CD's." It seemed that Kris had been living out of one suitcase the entire time, and never even attempted to put her clothes into the closet or her books into the bookcase. 

Kris emerged from the bathroom about five minutes later, still in her pajamas but her hair was up and she had brushed her teeth and washed her face. "I can't believe I overslept five hours! I've never done that! Such a stupid idiot!" she rambled to Lane while she foraged for some clean clothes in her suitcase, finally settling for a pair of denim shorts and a yellow spaghetti strap. 

"Kris, you've been working really hard, possibly too hard. I think you should ask Luke for the day off. I mean, you look really tired," Lane said cautiously. But it was true, Kris had lost a lot of weight since the beginning of her stay here. Kris seemed oblivious to this change in her body.

"But Lane, who knows if I'll still even have a job? I mean, Luke might fire me cause of this!" Kris replied, dressing in front of Lane without hesitation.

"Get real, he hasn't fired Jess and Jess is probably the worse worker in the entire diner world," Lane replied, trying to lighten the mood.

"Jess' a hard worker even if he might take a lot of breaks," Kris stated firmly. 

"Okay, whatever, my point is that I think you're overreacting. Tell you what, my mom's in Hartford for the whole day, so I can go out without permission and I'll go to Luke's with you for support and he won't fire you," Lane said smiling.

Kris slipped on her soccer slides and smiled slightly at Lane, "Thanks cuz," she said.

"Of course," Lane said, leading the way out of the house and to _Luke's_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The diner was pretty busy and Luke was worried. Kris hadn't shown up that Tuesday morning. She had been working a lot, so maybe she just needed a break, but she didn't seem like the type who would flake on her responsibilities. Jess had returned from summer school that day and seemed willing to take on the extra work covering for Kris' absence. Luke noticed this generosity on Jess' part, but did question it for fear that Jess would get upset and leave the diner, only to return at two in the morning. 

The door bell rang and Kris and Lane entered the diner hurriedly. Jess had never seen the two together before and he took the opportunity to decipher the differences between them. Lane was about two inches shorter than Kris and was much skinnier than her as well. Not that Kris was fat, Jess thought, but she played basketball and volleyball and it showed in her well toned body. _Okay, enough checking out Kris_, he thought disgustingly at himself. 

"Luke! I am so very sorry for not coming in this morning! I dunno what happened, I just overslept. I woke up about ten minutes ago, I can't believe I overslept five hours. I'm totally willing to give you all my tips for the whole week, though I doubt I'd get much, or whatever you want me to do. I'll work extra shifts or anything. I'm so so so sorry!" Kris stammered.

Jess smirked, Kris was way too conscientious_...like Rory...no not thinking about Rory or Kris,_ Jess thought. 

"Kris, calm down okay? It's fine, it's really my fault because I shouldn't have let you work as much as you were. You look really drained and I should have seen it. It's my responsibility to know that my employees are doing okay. So, take the whole day off, go do something with Lane, and I'll see you tomorrow. But you're limited to eight hour shifts now and you will take your lunch break and other breaks as well, okay?" Luke said rather fatherly.

"Are, are you sure? I mean, it looks pretty crowded and it's not fair for Jess and you to do my work and your own..."

Luke cut her off, "Jess needs the experience of added responsibility. Don't worry about us. Now, go," he pointed to the door. 

"Thanks, Luke," she sighed in relief. She walked over to Jess who was taking someone's orders and whispered, "I owe you one."

Jess turned to her, smirked and nodded towards the door. Kris smiled and walked out with Lane.

"See, told you that you wouldn't get fired! Now, we have the whole day to do stuff. No mom, just us! This will be so exciting!" Lane exclaimed happily. 

"Great! But I hafta eat something, I'm starving!" Kris replied equally happy. She hadn't gotten to spend much time with Lane. 

While eating Lane asked, "Kris, why haven't you unpacked you stuff?"

Kris shrugged, "Didn't have much time to do that, I guess," and took another bite of the pizza they had ordered.

"We could do that today, you know. I can help you and it would go by faster," Lane suggested.

Kris frowned. 

"What's wrong?" Lane asked.

"It's just that I'm only going to be here for a year."

"But you can't live out of one suitcase for a whole year, Kris."

"Lane, this isn't my home," Kris said emphatically.

Lane didn't know what to say. She was slightly hurt, yet could understand Kris' reluctance to fully accepting Stars Hollow as her home. "I can't imagine what you're feeling, but I want you to know that I'm really happy that you moved here. I guess that I wanted you to unpack you're room so I knew you weren't going away or running away," Lane said honestly.

Kris thought about it for a while. If it would make Lane happier then it couldn't hurt to unpack. "Okay, let's do it," Kris replied, eating the last of her fourth piece of pizza. 

"Really?" Lane asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through Kris' things and arranging them in her room. It was transformed into a personalized area rather than four barren walls. 

"Are you sure you want your CD's on full display to my mom?" Lane asked as Kris piled her hundred or so CD's onto the top of her chest of drawers. 

"Yeah, it's fine. I don't really care if she has a problem with it," Kris replied.

"Oh," Lane replied quietly.

"I'm sorry Lane, I'm too blunt, I know," Kris apologized.

"No, that's not it, it's just that I wish you two got along."

"I do too, but I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon."

"You have a lot of CD's," Lane commented, changing the subject.

"Yeah, majority of them I burned. It was much cheaper in the long run," Kris said, pointing to her CD burner and computer on her desk.

"Cool!"

"Yeah, you can tell me the songs you want and I can download the songs off the Internet and burn them onto a CD for you," Kris said.

"Oh, that would be awesome! No more plans with Rory to get a CD to me behind my mom's back!"

"Huh?" Kris asked, completely confused.

Lane then told the story about Michele running around the town square for hours trying to get a CD to her that Rory had bought. Kris laughed hysterically, "That's so funny. Rory is such a great friend."

"Yeah, she's about the best they come," Lane replied, but her thoughts were on what Rory said to her on the phone about kissing Jess.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound very convincing," Kris commented.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's just that, Rory called me a few days ago and told me disturbing stuff. But it's no big deal," Lane finished hastily.

"Oh, okay," Kris replied, understanding that Lane didn't want to talk about her phone conversation anymore. "What does she look like?"

"Rory?" Lane asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, she has brown hair, blue eyes, and...well...oh, just come to my room, I have pictures." Lane got up, admired their work on Kris' room and went to her own with Kris following her.

Lane picked up a frame by her bed and handed it to Kris. Kris saw Lane and a beautiful girl with, like Lane said, brown hair and blue eyes smiling back at her. Rory was beautiful and Kris finally realized what the big fuss over this girl was. She was beautiful on the outside and within, if the stories Kris overheard throughout town were true. She was intelligent, well-read, witty, considerate, honest, and pretty. _This girl seems to have it all_, Kris thought. 

"I'd love to meet her," Kris said thoughtfully.

"You will, she comes home in less than three weeks!" Lane exclaimed, placing the picture back near her bed. Lane stomach gurgled. "I'm hungry, I think it's about seven, let's go to _Luke's_ and eat," Lane suggested.

"Sure," Kris said, shaking off her jealous thoughts regarding Rory and how lucky she was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess smiled when he saw Kris and Lane come in for the second time that day, but his attention was focused on Kris. She looked happier, laughing with Lane about something or other. He casually strolled over to their table.

"What can I get for you ladies?" Jess asked in a mock professional toned.

Kris looked up, "Hmm, well what do you suggest, good sir?"

Lane was about to puke at the fact that Kris was flirting with Jess...Jess! Of all people to flirt with. She'd rather Kris flirted with Dean than Jess. 

"I believe that the burgers and fries are rather popular here," Jess replied, still using a formal tone.

"Burger and fries it is then," Kris said, unable to keep up the antics and laughed, causing Jess to chuckle slightly. 

"And for the fine lady in your company?" Jess said trying vainly to continue his professional tone.

"The same," Lane replied coldly.

Jess and Kris instantly stopped fooling around and Kris turned to Lane who was glaring at Jess while he left to fill their order.

"Hey, are you okay? We were just kidding," Kris said.

"Why do you waste your time with him?" Lane asked.

"I don't think my time is wasted with him," Kris replied. She was surprised as Lane's attitude towards Jess, but remained calm.

"I told you he's trouble," Lane insisted.

"I know, and I appreciate the warning, but I just don't see what's so terrible about him. Sure he has an attitude problem sometimes, but he's not as bad as people make him out to be," Kris said.

"He almost came between Rory and Dean," Lane said.

"What?" Rory didn't seem to be Jess' type, Kris thought, but then again, Jess tended to surprise her.

"He antagonizes Dean a lot and Rory enjoys being friends with Jess and that angers Dean even more. You know that accident I told you about that Jess and Rory had? Well, it was in the car the Dean built for her, himself, and Jess was driving it. After that Jess left because Rory hurt her wrist from the accident while Jess didn't get hurt at all and the whole town hated him. I don't understand why he came back here, but he did," Lane explained.

"Wow, that's quite like a soap opera," Kris commented. 

"What's like a soap opera?" Jess asked, serving their food. 

"How hot Alec is," Kris replied before Lane could think of a good lie. "You know, his looks are classic for a soap opera," Kris added innocently to Jess.

Jess shuttered exaggeratedly and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm not commenting on that." He left and Kris began to eat. 

Lane looked at her questioningly and Kris explained the whole story to her.

"You turned Alec down for a date?" Lane asked incredulously. 

"Yeah," Kris said. "I don't like his attitude."

"But he is fine like a soap opera star."

"True, but staring at his body is only going to keep me satisfied for a few minutes. Once he opens his mouth I'm won't be interested anymore," Kris replied rationally.

Lane laughed, "Okay, that's true."

"But going back to the Rory, Dean, Jess thing. So, all this is why Jess and Dean don't like each other?" Kris asked.

"Yup."

"Good reason to not like each other. But Rory's not the only girl in Stars Hollow right? I mean there's you, and there must be plenty of other wonderful girls here."

"Well, guys are scared of my mom. The other girls here are sort of shallow, for lack of a better word. I was on the cheerleading squad and I know. Rory could care less about what people think of her and she does her own thing no matter what. Dean and Jess both see that," Lane explained.

"So basically, you're telling me that Rory is the only three dimensional girl in Stars Hollow who doesn't have an overprotective mother?"

"Well, now there's you," Lane replied honestly.

"Thanks for the compliment," Kris said happily.

"Well, it's true. Alec likes you and Jess apparently finds you interesting. He had only bantered like that with Rory before you," Lane said.

Kris thought about Dean's offer to go to the movies a week ago. Oh, God, did that mean that just because Rory wasn't here all these people were giving her attention? Was she the temporary replacement until Rory got back from D.C.? Especially for Jess? That hug flashed through her mind and she grew angry. Jess liked Rory but flirted with Kris...something about that pissed Kris off, probably because she was falling for Jess. Kris shrugged in response to Lane's comment. 

"Are we finished?" Lane asked, looking at their two empty plates.

"Um, yeah, I think so. I'll go get the check, since you paid for the pizza this afternoon," Kris said, getting up to go to the register.

Jess quickly moved towards the register, realizing that Kris was going there. "Food's on the house, remember? You work here," he said.

She looked up at him and he noticed something was different about her. Did he see doubt in her eyes? Doubt about what?

"Let me pay for at least Lane's dinner," Kris replied distantly.

"No, not going to happen." Jess shook his head and looked at her attentively.

"Fine, thanks," Kris said shortly, walking towards the door where Lane was waiting for her.

Jess was taken aback by Kris' dismissal of a perfect bantering opportunity. He didn't understand what was the deal with that girl. One point she was nice and then next she was cold. He sighed, reprimanding himself for even caring about what was wrong with Kris and continued working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kris lay on her stomach on the bridge later that night, about one in the morning, holding up her flashlight so she could read. She could feel the vibrations of footsteps, but she wasn't scared this time. Casually looking up, she saw Jess' silhouette through the darkness.

"I'm leaving," Kris said coldly, getting up.

"No, don't," Jess replied. 

"It's fine, this is your space anyways," Kris said.

"Okay, what have I done?" Jess asked annoyed.

"Why do you talk to me?" Kris asked him, standing to face him.

"Answer my question first," he insisted rather calmly.

Kris looked at the water and sat down, letting her feet dangle over the water. "It's just that...Lane told me about how you only talked to Rory before she left. She said that it looked like you liked Rory a lot. And now you're talking to me, and I'm just wondering why. It seems like guys are paying attention to me by default, just cause Rory isn't here. I don't need that," Kris tried to explain.

Could that be true? Kris did keep Jess' mind off Rory, but that couldn't be the reason why he talked to her, why he tried so hard not to care about her.

"I don't talk to you just because Rory's not here." He sat next to Kris.

"How do you know?" Kris asked.

"Because..." Jess did know how to explain. He talked to her because he liked her, a lot, though he tried so hard to avoid it. She was intelligent, she wasn't scared to voice her opinions, she stood up for him, she...was beautiful. She even had gotten him to stop smoking, though the cravings were unbearable at times. He frowned as he realized he couldn't hide his feelings any longer, he just didn't want to anymore. If she rejected him, that would be fine, he'd get over it. If she accepted him...well, she probably wouldn't accept him anyway.

"Jess?" Kris asked, concern penetrating her voice.

He turned to her, studying her face. Worry was written all over it. He swallowed nervously and leaned towards her, pressing his lips to hers. After overcoming the initial shock of Jess' actions, Kris returned the kiss. Jess felt tingly all over after they parted and smiled at Kris. Kris blushed profusely which Jess didn't miss and this made Jess smile even more. After all, she didn't run away from him yelling to not say anything to anyone after they kissed. 

"So, what are you reading?" Jess asked, trying to regain his composure.

"Oh, uh, Death of a Salesman," she replied, flustered.

"Cool, you like Miller?"

"Yeah he does a good job with this one, but it's kinda confusing with Willy always reminiscing and talking to himself. I liked The Crucible too, expect for the fact that it was made into a really bad Wynona Rider movie."

Jess laughed but an uncomfortable silence grew between the two of them. 

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"How was it?"

"How was what?"

"The kiss."

"Oh, it's was..." Amazing? Yes. Perfect? Yes. "It was good. Why?"

Kris smiled. "Cause it was my first," she replied honestly.

Jess looked at her incredulously. "No it wasn't," he stated.

"Don't you think I would know when I kissed a guy for the first time?" Kris replied.

"So you mean to tell me that in L.A. there were no guys you wanted to kiss?" "No, there were guys I wanted to kiss. None who wanted to kiss me," she replied, hiding her disappointment regarding this fact well.

"I can't believe that," Jess said firmly.

"Believe what?"

"No guys wanting to kiss you. I mean, you come here and Alec probably wants to jump down your pants, I just kissed you, and Dean is probably fantasizing about kissing you," Jess replied.

"Dean isn't doing that, Jess," she stated.

"I'm not about to argue with you, but just because Dean has a girlfriend doesn't mean he can't fantasize about someone else. I mean, from personal experience back in New York, it's very possible," he said emphatically.

Kris laughed. "Okay, whatever, I really could care less about what Dean fantasizes about."

"Yeah?" Jess asked, intrigued. Dean seemed like the kind of guy every girl wanted: the All-American type. Then again, he just kissed Kris and she kissed him back.

"Yup. Dean's not the guy for me, besides the fact that he's taken."

"You don't like the Neanderthal type?"

Kris tried not to laugh. "Don't call him that, Jess. But no, not into the Neanderthal type."

"Then what's your type?" he whispered, leaning closer to her.

"Whatever type you classify yourself as," she replied before closing the space between them with another kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note: Please review!!


	8. Revelations

Author's Note: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, I think the number of review doubled when posting chapter 7. Anyway, to answer some people's wonderfully thoughtful reviews: This chapter is still Jess/Kris because I want to establish the fact that this relationship is deeper than simply kissing and whatever. So, when Rory comes back, in the next chapter (hopefully), the conflict will be bigger. I wanted to make Dean attracted to another girl while Rory is away just to show a human tendency of the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy. Kris is a lot like Rory in a lot of respects, which is revealed in this chapter but she's a little more aggressive (for lack of a better word). Now I'm not so sure if I can make this work as a Jess/Rory because the relationship he has with Kris is cool, so we'll see. Okay, enough talking, on with the story!

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The next day Kris happily entered the diner.

"Well, I'm glad that day off helped," Luke said, smiling at her. Kris blushed thinking about the other incident that made her so happy, but didn't tell Luke.

Jess came up to her, quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered, "I got school. See you in a couple hours."

"Okay, have fun," she said sarcastically.

Jess walked out and Kris turned to a puzzled Luke. "You know what? I'm not going to ask. He's been doing really well since he came back and I'm not going to mess with a good thing," Luke said to an innocent-faced Kris.

"Okay, whatever you feel is best. By the way, how'd that wonderful town meeting go?"

Luke shuttered. "The good news is that Taylor's claims were so unfounded that people could see through them, luckily. Majority of the town thinks it's best if you and Jess are left alone and they'll intervene only if you guys do something 'troubling,'" he explained.

"So basically, we're on a sort of parole?" 

"Well, no...kinda," Luke thought, readjusting his hat. "It's stupid, just keep up the good work you're doing now and it'll be fine."

"That's so funny, back in L.A., I was considered a good girl. Now I'm a parolee. Talk about irony," Kris thought aloud. 

Luke chuckled. "Don't worry about it, okay? They won't kick you out of town, or anything like that."

"What about Jess?"

"They really haven't forgiven him for 'breaking' Rory, it's a long story, but basically..."

"Oh, I know what happened, Lane told me."

"Well, then, okay, but the town is still mad about that. But so far Jess hasn't done anything really bad that they can use as an excuse to kick him out of town for."

"I see."

After Jess came back from school, Kris took a break with him. "How was school?" Kris asked, attempting small talk. 

"It was okay, boring, but it looks like I'll be a senior in the fall," Jess said, walking beside her, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"It's a good thing you're doing. Luke is really proud of you," Kris said happily.

"Woopee, I should get a medal," Jess said, distantly. He thought a lot about their "relationship" during a boring history lecture during summer school, and well, his thoughts turned rather dark.

"What's wrong, Jess?" Kris asked thoughtfully.

Jess stiffened. "What do you want?" he asked her quietly.

"What do you mean?" Kris asked confused.

"What do you want out of me? This whole town hates me. I'm not planning to go to college while you have you're hopes set on Stanford. Your first kiss was with me while I...I went further with girls I didn't care about than I should have..." Jess rambled, frustrated.

"What's you're point, Jess?"

"My point is that it doesn't seem like we match up. This town was so worried about me corrupting Rory and it seems like I'll do the same to you. I don't need that."

"Oh, so I'm too innocent for you?" Kris asked angrily.

"That's not it, Kris. I'd rather not get completely attached to you without knowing what exactly it is that you need from me."

"Look, I don't want to be a chore for you, okay? We can just go back to the way it was before last night if you're more comfortable with that. But don't make it sound like I'm another thing on your 'to-do' list," she replied, her anger rising.

"Shit! I hate this! That isn't what I meant either. You're not a chore...I...I just don't want to disappoint you. And if I'm gonna disappoint you, I'd rather not get into a relationship," Jess finished uncomfortably, looking at the sidewalk. 

Kris calmed down and walked towards Jess, lifting his hands gently out of his pockets. She held them in her own hands and said softly, "I want someone who won't judge me and who'll stand up for me cause I'd do the same for him. I want someone who won't second-guess me or my intentions. I want someone who'll hang out with me and be happy doing so. And I want someone who writes in the margins of my books without my permission. That's all for now, I'll let you know if I think of something else."

Jess looked at her, disentangled one of his hands from hers, and gently brushed a red streak of hair away from her face. "I can do that," he said.

"I know you can," she replied, kissing him gently. 

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Now that Kris was limited to eight hour shifts, she spent the remainder of her time up in Jess' room reading his books while he worked in the diner or read beside her on his bed. When Lane's mom wasn't around, Lane would come by and they would spend quality girl-time together. They were basically her only friends in Stars Hollow. Kris relationship with Mrs. Kim dwindled to basically nothing but an "I'm going to work" in the morning and a "I'm back from work" at night. 

"Jess?" Kris asked looking up from _Ceremony_, while lying on Jess' stomach as he idly played with her hair and read a book. 

"Hmm?" he said, not stopping his ministrations to her hair.

"What's going to happen to us when Rory comes back?" she asked. The question had been gnawing at her for a few days now. 

"What do you mean?" Jess asked casually, hoping Kris wouldn't notice him stiffening under her head.

She did notice. "I know you had feelings for her. And I guess the out of sight, out of mind principle was applied here, but what's going to happen when she gets back?"

"I dunno," Jess replied honestly. Did he still like Rory? It seemed that Rory was a fuzzy memory to him.

"I just want you to know," Kris said, getting up from her prone position to look at Jess' face, "that if you still have feelings for her, I want you to tell me. I'll be pissed of course, but I'll be less upset than if you kept that from me and tried to pretend like everything is okay." She figured that was what was happening between Dean and Rory, and she didn't need to be lied to.

Jess couldn't believe this girl, she was so selfless. "Okay," he whispered to her. She smiled and resumed her previous position on his stomach.

"Kris?" he said a few silent moments later.

"Yeah?"

"She kissed me." He needed to tell her what had happened between Rory and himself.

"What? When?" Kris said, turning over to face him, her chin now on his stomach and her eyes looking up to his. Jess couldn't tell if she looked pissed.

"It was about a week before you came to town. I just came back from New York and I saw her and she kissed me. Then she freaked out and told me not to tell anyone about the kiss cause she was scared that Dean would find out, and then she left for D.C. and I haven't heard from her since."

"So, she likes you," Kris said quietly.

"I dunno, but I was pissed that she just left without saying anything else to me and she hasn't called, ever. I mean, that's not something she would do, and I was just surprised cause..."

"Cause she hurt you," Kris completed his sentence.

"Yeah," Jess admitted. He couldn't believe that he was telling Kris these things or that he was admitting certain emotions, but Kris somehow had a way to make him reveal a lot of himself to her.

"I mean, after she came to New York to see me I thought she had feelings for me..." Jess thought out loud.

"Hold on, she went to see you in New York?" Kris asked, her voice raising with surprise with each word.

"Yeah," Jess said, instantly regretting saying those things.

"Oh, dude! Is that why you came back to Stars Hollow after the accident?"

"Yeah, how'd you know about the accident?"

"Lane. And then she kisses you and leaves you here with no explanation and now you are resentful and wondering why you came back here in the first place?"

"Exactly."

"I see, it is all clear to me now," Kris said, mimicking a fortune seer, trying to hide her disappointment at the realization that she might be inadvertently a rebound girl for Jess after what happened to him. Jess laughed, she did a good job hiding what she feared.

"But I stopped wondering why I came back here," Jess added between laughs.

"Oh, really? When was that?" Kris asked, straddling Jess' lap between her knees.

"Three days ago when I kissed you," he replied smiling.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her previous fear forgotten. "Ah, no fair. That was like THE perfect line to say at that exact moment. How can I top that?" she asked him facetiously.

"Who said you have to?" he asked, not waiting for an answer but pulling her down for a kiss. He placed his hands on the sides of her waist and squeezed lightly, making Kris squirm away from the kiss.

"You're ticklish!" Jess exclaimed, a look of pure mischief on his face.

"No, I'm not!" Kris replied between laughs while Jess tickled her.

"You suck at lying you know that?" Jess teased, still tickling her.

"And you just plain suck!" Kris retorted, wreathing on the bed with laughter.

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"Coffee!" Lorelai yelled, coming into _Luke's._

"You know, normal people usually sit down and wait to be served," Luke said, feigning annoyance.

"Yes, but we've already established that being normal sucks. Being an addict who comes into the diner with the best coffee and a Treky owner yelling for the coffee is cool," Lorelai rambled. 

"Right," Luke replied, filling up a cup for her. 

"So, how's it going, Luke?" Lorelai asked.

"Confusing," Luke replied vaguely.

"Obviously. You've got me all confused."

"It's just that, it seems that Jess and Kris are going out. I dunno how I feel about that," Luke said, ignoring Lorelai's previous comment.

"Really? They're going out? That's wonderful!" Lorelai said enthusiastically. If Jess liked Kris and was dating her, that meant that he didn't like Rory. Lorelai fully supported this coupling.

"I just don't know if Jess is right for Kris. If he hurts her..." Luke thought out loud.

"Ah, have some faith in the kid. If he screws up, Kris doesn't seem like the type who'd keep him around," Lorelai commented.

"That's true, huh?" Luke said.

Laughter erupted from upstairs followed by shouts of "You suck!" and more laughter.

Lorelai smiled and Luke looked annoyed. "I forgot they were upstairs," he said. He sighed and yelled up the stairs, "Hey! You guys, breaks over. I need help down here!"

A few moments later, Lorelai heard feet quickly pounding down the stairs and more laughter. Kris emerged smiling and Jess followed her but was expressionless.

"Hi, Lorelai!" Kris said happily, combing her fingers through her hair and putting it up in a messy ponytail. 

"Hey, Kris, how's it going?" Lorelai asked, putting her now empty cup onto the counter, signaling for a refill.

"Good, thanks. You?" Kris asked, pouring Lorelai another cup of coffee then reaching for a mug to pour herself some.

Jess had strangely disappeared from Kris line of sight, but she didn't think much of this. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sipped it. 

"I'm doing fine. Rory comes back in two weeks, I'm really excited."

"Oh, that's great. Are you planning some sort of welcome back party?" Kris asked. She didn't know how she felt about Rory. She had heard such wonderful things about her, but what she did to Jess was downright selfish. 

"Well, maybe something the day after she gets back. I think the first day she's here it'll be low-key. I don't want the village people swarming around her too soon."

"That's a good idea," Kris replied. Just then, Jess came up from behind her and pinched her waist, startling Kris and almost making her spill her coffee that she was sipping. "Jess!" she yelled at him, but he still had a mischievous grin on his face. "You are so gonna pay for that!"

"You know you love it," Jess whispered in her ear affectionately.

Kris rolled her eyes to Lorelai who was in shock at Jess' public display of affection. People in the diner who heard this exchange shook their heads in disapproval of the pairing of Jess and Kris, but didn't say anything. "Run along now," Kris replied, smiling. 

Jess left her side to take some orders and Lorelai asked, "So you two are dating?" She needed to hear it from the horse's mouth.

"Well, we haven't actually gone on a date. We hang out. But, I guess if you use the word loosely, then yes, we are," Kris replied.

Lorelai smiled. 

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The next Monday, Lane came rushing into the diner. "Kris, you hafta register for school!" she said, running up to her cousin.

"What do you mean? I thought it was already done," Kris replied worriedly.

"No, my mom didn't do it. I just got so information from school, but you didn't get anything. You need to register and it's better to do it now than on the first day of school cause it's really busy then."

"Shit, okay, thanks Lane. I'll ask Luke for a break now and go to school. Thanks again," she said, giving her cousin a big hug.

"No problem, really. I hafta go though, see you back home," Lane replied.

"Sure thing," Kris said as Lane ran out the door. "Luke, I hafta register for school, can I go now?"

"Yeah, Jess should be coming back soon anyway, don't worry about it," Luke said.

"Great, thanks," Kris said bolting to the house.

She arrived at the school a few minutes later with her transcripts and other various records her previous school in L.A. had given her before she left. It wasn't a busy day, so she was actually able to see the principal. 

After Kris composed herself, told the principal the whole story, and handed over her records, the principal replied, "Well, this quite a transcript. You have stellar grades and you've passed AP classes that we don't even offer at the school."

Just then, Jess entered the principal's office, a puzzled expression as to why Kris was there. Kris mouthed, 'Later' to him. 

"Ah, Mr. Mariano, please, take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment," the principal said, motioning towards a chair in the corner of the office. "As I was saying, this is an amazing transcript. Apparently, the only AP courses we can offer you this next year that you haven't already taken are AP Statistics, AP English Literature, and AP Biology. You have fulfilled all credits needed to graduate already, so you could theoretically take those three courses and an elective and have a senior year composed of four classes," the principal suggested.

"Would it be possible to take classes at the local community college?" Kris asked.

"Yes, yes, that is always an option," the principal said admirably towards this girl who had gone through so much yet was still managed to focus on her studies.

"Okay, I'll do that then. I just need a guardian's signature on these papers, correct?" Kris asked.

"Yes, then you can bring the forms back in and you'll be all set for the first day of school."

"Great, thank you very much, sir," Kris said shaking the principal's hand. She turned to Jess, smiled and left the office. Jess was in shock as to what he heard. This girl had taken all the AP's this school had to offer except for three? That's insane, that might be more than Rory!

"Ah, Mr. Mariano," the principal said, motioning to the chair that Kris had just vacated. "I just wanted to check up on you and see how you are doing. You're teachers are saying that you have actually been attending class regularly and are doing rather well, averaging B's in your courses," he added approvingly.

"What can I say? I like going against the grain," Jess replied sarcastically.

"Ah, I see. Well, whatever is inspiring you to do so well, I ask that you please keep it up. At this rate you will no doubt graduate from high school. That is all," the principal said, dismissing Jess with a smile. 

_Wow, that was pointless_, Jess thought while leaving the office only to find Kris waiting in the hallway for him. He smiled at her and they headed out the door. 

"You never told me you were a genius," Jess teased while they were walking towards the diner.

"What do you mean?" Kris asked innocently.

"C'mon, how many AP's have you taken?" Jess asked.

"It's not important," Kris replied shortly. Whenever someone asked her that, she became so upset, not because of the question, but usually people were intimidated of her after she said the number. She didn't want Jess to be intimidated.

"Please, tell me," Jess insisted.

"I've taken six," Kris replied softly. 

"Six! People brag when they take one and you've taken six!!" Jess exclaimed admirably.

"Shut up, Jess!" Kris begged, turning to him, anger and embarrassment streaked across her face.

Jess' attitude immediately changed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to piss you off," he replied softly. He obviously hit a soft spot with her. "But you do realize that you're a genius," he said rather proudly. 

Jess wasn't intimidated. 

The fact that she could win almost any debate put before her scared off guys she was attracted to back in L.A.. And it wasn't like she was going to play dumb just to get a guy's attention, that simply wasn't her style. She smiled to herself. Jess just wasn't intimidated.

"I'm looking at a genius, Jess. You are so much smarter than you give yourself credit for," she said honestly.

Jess smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his head in her neck. "You do realize that was the absolute perfect thing to say at that moment? It changed the subject and complimented me..." Jess trailed off, kissing Kris' neck.

Kris smiled. "What can I say? It's that genius streak in me," she whispered. 

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Author's Note: Please review! Thanks bunches! I've started school, so it'll be a while until the next update probably.


	9. Crying, Tickling, and Boy's Clothes

Author's note: Thanks to all the readers and reviewers!! I really enjoy you're input on my story. I still dunno if I'm going to make it a Rory/Jess or Kris/Jess, I hafta think about it. One question though, hopefully someone can answer: **What does "literati" and "java junkie" mean? ** Does that mean Rory/Jess and Lorelai/Luke? Kinda like Trory means Tristan/Rory? Who thinks of these phrases? It's quite confusing. Anyway, if someone could answer my question by explaining it in a review, that would be great. I check the reviews every time I see I have another review. Thanks again. I hope you are enjoying the story and that you review!

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"I was looking for you," Jess said stepping into the gazebo in the center of town. It was about three in the afternoon and Kris snuck off for a break while Jess wasn't looking. She seemed distant ever since the morning, but Jess didn't ask what the problem was. Not that he didn't care, but if Kris wanted to share, she would.

"Found me," she replied, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Jess sat down next to her but didn't reply. They must have sat in silence for five minutes until Kris said, "It's been two months since my parents died. To the exact date." Her eyes went down to the wooden floor.

Jess didn't know what to say, so he reached over to drape an arm across her shoulders. 

She pulled away. "No, don't. It's not important," Kris lied quietly.

"Want me to go?" Jess asked.

"No." 

Minutes ticked away. "Sometimes, I think I can hear my dad making the coffee in the morning. You know, the grinding of the beans, the whistling of the teapot, that stuff. And I can swear sometimes that I can smell the laundry detergent my mom used for our clothes. But then I realize, that it's just my mind playing cruel tricks on me. And I hate it, so much," Kris said, on the verge of tears. Since the funerals, she refused to cry about her parents. She needed to be strong, she was in a new town, with new people, and crying would only hurt her. 

"I hate it even more that I sometimes pity myself. What good would that do? Yet I can't help but think sometimes about how unfair my life is, and then I realize how selfish I am for thinking that, and then I become even more disgusted in myself, so I pity myself even more! It's this vicious never-ending cycle!" she cried out, burying her face in her arms that her placed on her pulled-in knees. 

Her head whipped back up, facing him, tears streaking down her face. "And what the hell will crying do to help? Nothing, nothing at all. So why the hell am I crying?" She was practically hysterical now, but she didn't scream like she did at her aunt. 

Jess froze. He'd never dealt with a crying sixteen year old girl before, let alone one that he cared about.

While Jess thought about what to do, Kris had already tried desperately to compose herself, realizing Jess' uncomfortableness in the situation. "Sorry," she said in an artificially even tone, "that was totally rude of me. Putting that shit on you wasn't right." 

"It's okay," Jess replied. "It'd be better if you let it out." But he still wasn't sure how to handle Kris crying. 

Her eyes were still red and puffy, but no tears fell. "No, I'm fine. Give me a sec and I'll go back to the diner," she said.

Jess looked at her, wishing she'd let him in, let him know how much she hurt. He took both her hands and looked squarely at her, "I won't run away," he said.

He could see Kris' weak defenses crumble. Her bottom lip quivered slightly and tears began to come to her eyes. He pulled her into him, much like he did that day in his room. 

This time she didn't resist. She cried. 

"Thanks," she whispered to him, when her crying subsided.

"Sure thing," Jess replied. 

She rested her head against his shoulder and he stroked her arm gently. "We better get back to the diner, Luke's by himself." She didn't wait for a response but got up from the bench and waited for Jess to follow her.

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"Jess?" Kris said quietly when both were reading on the bridge about a week later. Neither mentioned again what happened at the gazebo, and both were happy with it that way. 

"Hmm?" he asked, never taking his eyes off his book.

"What's Benjy talking about here?" she asked him, handing over her copy of _The Sound and The Fury._

Jess closed his book and took Kris'. Scanning the page quickly, Jess responded, "Oh, the sound that Benjy hears is hiccups. He's drunk and hiccupping." He returned the book with a smile on his face. Kris often asked for his insight on passages of books that he had already read and this made Jess happy; she wasn't afraid to ask for help and he welcomed the questions.

"Erg! Benjy is so confusing! How am I supposed to know that it's hiccupping? I mean, it's good description of a three year old mind describing hiccupping, but I just wish I was three and reading this book. How the heck did you get through this book? Faulker is going to drive me crazy."

Jess laughed, "Patience, little grasshopper," he said in a mock sagely voice.

Kris rolled her eyes. "What are you reading?" she asked him.

"_Farewell to Arms_," Jess replied.

"Another Hemmingway?"

"Hey, I like the guy," Jess defended.

"Okay," Kris said, smiling.

"What? You don't like him?" Jess asked.

"Did I ever say that?" Kris said, surprised that Jess assumed something like that.

"Well, no, but..."

"I've only read _Old Man and the Sea,_ I liked that book, the symbolism was awesome."

"You never read any other Hemmingway?" Jess asked surprised.

"No, I usually don't read more than one book per author. There was never any time back in my old school, we always had to do so much work, didn't have much time for pleasure reading. In fact, this summer I'm doing more reading than I've ever done."

"So you never read an author?" Jess asked, intrigued.

"Unless you count J.K. Rowling, I did read all four Harry Potter books," Kris said.

Jess laughed, "Ah, I can't believe you succumbed to a fad! You don't seem like the type."

"I know, I know, I used to think it was a total fad. My friends would read them and then talk about them, and I was thinking that it was so stupid. But then I figured I had to read one book so that I could rightfully diss it, and well, I got hooked instead. Have you read any?" 

Jess shook his head, "There are too many classics out there to read, I don't wanna waste my time with Harry Potter."

"That's how I felt. Read one of them, then tell me what you think. After one, you'll at least have the full right to argue about it's terribleness, but I doubt you'll think it's terrible," Kris said. 

"And why's that?" He laid down on the bridge and Kris laid down beside him, propping herself with her elbow to look at him.

"Cause it's a Cinderella story at heart. Harry lives with a terrible aunt and uncle and cousin and then he has the chance to get away and go to a world where people love him and admire him. Of course, he fights evil and whatever, but who wouldn't want to escape to someplace like that?" Kris said wistfully, thinking about her current situation, but she had a great cousin instead of stupid Dudley.

Jess understood Harry Potter's appeal now. "Do you ever feel like running away somewhere?" he asked.

"Of course, all the time. But where the hell would I go?" she replied honestly.

Jess shrugged. "Anywhere, just to get out of this place," he said.

"You wanna be somewhere else?" Kris asked.

"Not right now this minute," Jess said, looking up at her.

"Ah...that deserves a kiss," she said, leaning down an kissing him gently. "But seriously, do you wanna get out of this place?"

"Where would I go?" Jess asked, rubbing her arm.

"New York," Kris replied as if it were rather obvious.

Jess frowned. "I went back there, remember? It doesn't fit," he said, disturbed by the realization he had made. True, Rory was a reason why he had come back to Stars Hollow, but the fact New York wasn't home also played a part in the whole thing.

"L.A. probably wouldn't fit for me," she said, understanding his statement completely.

There was a comfortable silence where Kris rested her head on Jess shoulder and closed her eyes. She wrapped her arm around his chest and he covered her shoulder with his arm. She sighed. Rory was going to come tomorrow and things would change, it was inevitable. Neither one of them talked about this fact but both knew that the other was worried about her arrival. 

Jess didn't know what to think. Yes, he had like Rory since he saw how different she was, but she hurt him, badly. He didn't even open up to her that much, everything was about books, but the chemistry between them was undeniable. Then there was Kris who somehow crept into his heart and got him to reveal himself to her despite the fact that he was scared. She proved time and time again that he could trust her, and he did. He couldn't hurt her, not after all she had done for him- she had made him actually happy, actually look forward to working him his uncles diner every morning. He held her closer to him.

Kris snuggled against Jess happily. Yes, Rory would be coming home the next day, but Jess was with her that day, and that was what mattered. If Jess wanted to be with Rory tomorrow, what could Kris do about it? She wasn't going to chain Jess down, be some needy girlfriend who made her boyfriend miserable because he wanted to be with someone else. She hoped she made him half as happy as he made her. 

"Well, I guess I could give Ms. Rowling a try, eh?" Jess said, cutting the silence. 

Kris smiled but didn't open her eyes. "I love winning you over," she said, relishing in her victory.

Jess coughed back a laugh, and Kris opened her eyes, silently taunting him to argue with her again about something. Jess didn't take the bait though, but rather changed the subject.

"You know, I think we are lying on a very pivotal spot on the bridge," he said knowingly.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, grinning, "Pray tell Master Grasshopper."

Jess laughed. "This is where Luke pushed me into the pond, I think it's the exact spot."

Kris was amazed, Luke didn't seem like the violent type. "What did you do?"

"Why do you think I did something?" he asked innocently and Kris gave him a look. "Okay, okay, I was just being an ass, you know, the usual stuff I pull. And he got really frustrated and pushed me into the pond," Jess explained.

Kris laughed heartily. "It would have been funnier if the pond were deeper. Can you swim by the way?" she teased.

Jess quickly turned over to his side and proceeded to tickle her. "Yes, I can swim, can you?"

"This is so unfair," she said between fits of laughter. "Yes, I can swim," she added. She wriggled under Jess' tickling and managed to escape his grasp. She ran and Jess quickly followed her, grabbing her from behind around her waist and twirling her around. Kris laughed and turned around to face Jess, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You know, you probably deserved it," she teased. 

"Better be careful what you say," Jess warned, "My hands are on your waist and the last time I checked, you are extremely ticklish."

"Tell me, was the water cold?" Kris taunted him playfully.

Jess thought about it for a second. "I can't remember, let's see," he said.

Kris looked surprised, "What?"

Jess smiled, kissed her briefly, and pulled them both into the pond. The water wasn't cold, but actually pretty warm. Both were completely soaking wet. Jess could stop laughing at the look of complete surprise on Kris' face. 

"You're such a jerk," Kris laughed out, spraying some water on him.

"Well, I think the water was colder the last time," he said, trying to block some of the water Kris splashed onto him. He quickly got out of the water and ran away, looking over his shoulder at her.

Kris laughed, Jess won this one. She quickly got out of the water and ran after him.

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Jess ran soaking wet into the diner. 

"Hey, what the hell happened?" Luke asked, looking at his drenched nephew.

"Oh, nothing," Jess said, running up the stairs. 

Kris came in soon afterwards, soaked as well. "Upstairs?" she asked Luke. He nodded. "Sorry about the mess, Luke, we'll clean it up later." She headed up the stairs after Jess. "Jess, I need to borrow some clothes." Laughter was heard upstairs and Luke looked over a Lorelai, who was smiling at what just happened. 

Her daughter was in complete shock. Jess didn't even see her sitting at the table when he ran into the diner. She felt hurt and jealous, realizing that Lane's cousin, it must have been Lane's cousin, had captured his attention so fully. When she saw him, all these emotions came back to her, emotions she used to have for Dean, but now had for Jess. She had seen Dean earlier that day, he seemed different, almost distracted. He was surprised to see her a day earlier than expected, but it was almost as if he weren't happy to see her. She shook those thoughts away and refocused on her mom.

"You okay, Ror?" Lorelai asked.

"Huh? Yeah, never better, I'm really happy to be home."

"Me too. I'm glad they cut the conference a day short," Lorelai said.

"Me too," Rory said quietly.

"Oh, I want to stay here and talk with you, but I need to go to work and wasn't expecting you to come back today," Lorelai said regretfully.

"Go ahead, Mom. Lane's coming by in a bit and we'll hang out," Rory said. 

"Okay, well, save all your boy stories until I get home," Lorelai said, getting up to leave.

"I have a boyfriend," Rory stated flatly.

"Not for you, for me!" Lorelai said.

"Okay, love you Mom," Rory said. 

She was alone now, and sipped her coffee, thinking about Jess. What did she expect when she got home? That Jess would welcome her with open arms and kiss her passionately. She must have known better than that somewhere, but her mind kept saying that Jess must have waited for her these past six weeks. He did return to Stars Hollow, after all...

"I hope my shirt doesn't shrink in the drier," Kris said, coming down the stairs, wearing Jess' blue T-shirt and baggy khaki cargo pants, rolled up. Her hair was still wet.

Jess followed her down, never taking his hands from her waist. "I wouldn't mind if it shrank," he commented. 

"Of course you wouldn't," Kris replied. 

Jess kissed her neck from behind. "You know, you look incredibly good in my clothes," he whispered into her ear.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go swimming more often then," she said, turning around and kissing him happily. He gratefully returned her kisses, causing Rory to choke on her coffee. Kris and Jess immediately stopped, thinking a customer wasn't pleased with their public show of affection and was politely asking them to stop. His hands were still around her waist and her arms were still wrapped around his neck. They both turned toward the maker of the sound and froze. Rory had come home a day early. 

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If you could, please review! Thanks again!


	10. Rory

Author's Note: Yay! People answered my question. Thanks a lot! **Now, to answer a few of the things brought up in the reviews:**

A lot of kids at my school have started school early or something like that, so that explains why Kris is sixteen, it'll be explained later. As for the 6 AP's she's taken, I'm thinking that she took 2 during sophomore year and 4 during junior year...that will be explained later as well. 

To answer another comment, I really have trouble with Jess' character cause, quite frankly, we don't know much about him, I mean, he's well read and has attitude problems. So I tried to think of what he would do if there was a girl he truly cared about. Sorry if Jess is out-of-character, but we really don't know what he would do if his affections for a girl were reciprocated and they actually got together. 

People want this to be a Jess/Kris, and I really am grateful that you guys like Kris, but I'm still not sure. I mean, there are things that I need to explain and then I'll see if it's gonna turn out that way. If it doesn't, I promise that it will be explained to the fullest of my ability. Thanks again for the reviews, I love them, and enjoy the story!

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Kris could feel Jess stiffen behind her. She couldn't breath. It wasn't supposed to be like this, she was supposed to have one more day with Jess, to herself. She was supposed to tell him how much she had appreciated him these past five weeks, could it only have been five weeks? She was supposed to tell him that no matter what happened, they were friends first and if he did like Rory, then she'd let him go. But Rory came home a day early for some damned reason and she couldn't do any of that. 

Rory's eyes widened when their attention turned to her. She nervously looked around and then back to the couple. Her throat hurt from suppressed tears. She breathed calmly, and got up, walking towards Jess and Kris. 

"Hi, Jess," she said quietly.

"Hey," he replied coldly. 

Kris turned around to look at Jess who was simply staring at Rory. There was a lot of hurt in his eyes, more so than he let on before. But, there was something else there too...what was it? She faced Rory again.

"Hi, I'm Kris, Lane's cousin," Kris said nicely, extending her hand for Rory to shake.

Rory smiled, took Kris' hand and said, "It's really nice to meet you, Lane's told me that you're really great. I'm Rory, Lane's best friend."

"Lane's talked about almost nothing else but you," Kris replied honestly. She couldn't hate Rory, but that didn't mean that she wasn't pissed about the situation as it stood. She needed to get out of there and think.

Rory blushed at Kris' compliment. She looked at Jess, who returned her gaze. Kris looked at the two of them, realizing that she was the fifth wheel, so to speak. 

"I'll talk to you later," Kris said, turning to Jess.

"What? No, stay," he said. 

"I'll be back, I haven't put in my eight hours today yet and I'm wearing your clothes," Kris joked, disentangling herself from Jess. 

Jess smiled slightly, "Fine."

"It was really nice meeting you after all this time," Kris said politely, now turning to Rory.

"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah definitely, sure was," Rory rambled. Kris' kindness caught her off guard, she was expecting this girl to be snotty to her, or at least flaunt the fact that she was with Jess, but Kris did neither of those things. 

Kris gave a reassuring squeeze on Jess' arm and left the diner. 

Before Rory could say anything to Jess, Jess went behind the counter and got a mop to wipe up the water that he and Kris brought in a few minutes ago. He proceeded to mop the floor, never looking up at Rory while she stood there watching him. 

After an uncomfortable silence, Rory spoke up, "Jess, we need to talk."

"I have nothing to say, but if you wanna talk go ahead," he replied, still mopping. 

He wasn't making this any easier for her. "Look, I'm sorry about what I did before I left. It was really mean of me, but I was just so happy that you came back here," she said.

"And why were you so happy that I came back?"

Rory searched for an appropriate answer. She couldn't just blurt out that she had feelings for Jess, especially since he now had Kris and she was still with Dean. She didn't reply.

"That's what I thought," Jess remarked, looking at her squarely in the eyes now that he had finished moping the floor.

He returned the mop to it's previous location and left the diner, without any goodbyes to Luke or Rory. Rory saw him leaving and debated about whether or not she should follow him out. She did.

"Jess! Jess, wait, please!" she called out as Jess made his way over to the bridge. 

He didn't turn around. 

She caught up to him and cut him off. "Jess, I'm sorry, I'm sorry about all of it, okay? I'm sorry that I kissed you, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was leaving for six weeks, and I'm sorry that I never talked to you during that six week time. I'm so, so sorry because the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you, and it seems like I did," she blurted out. 

"Are you done?" Jess asked.

Rory was surprised at his response. "Don't you want to get mad at me? Yell at me, curse at me, damned me to stare at Taylor's bare chest for all of eternity?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes! Anything, so that I would know what you're thinking right now," Rory said.

"Why'd you do it?" Jess asked calmly.

"Do what?"

"Kiss me."

Rory looked away. How could she answer that? She didn't.

"Well, see Rory, it's kinda hard to talk to you if you don't answer my questions," Jess said in a patronizing tone. He walked around her and went down to the bridge. This time she didn't follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once at the bridge, Jess didn't know what to think. He wished he had a chainsaw that he could use to destroy something, he was so upset. How could she make him that upset and at the same time..._no, don't think like that, you're over her, _he thought.

He sat down, but he was antsy. He needed something to calm his nerves. He pulled out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket that he kept as a safety blanket. True, Kris had gotten him to quit, but he really needed something to soothe him. He thought about whether or not he should smoke it, then decided to do so. It really did the trick. 

His thoughts turned back to Rory. She looked different, in a way, tired and worried. But she was still beautiful, he would admit that much. What he didn't want to admit was that the first thing he felt when he saw her was happiness. But that was soon covered by anger, resentment, jealousy, and disappointment. 

Then there was Kris. He sighed, looking up at the blue sky and smoking his cigarette. She was the only thing worth anything in this town, that is, after Rory left. But now Rory was back, and, where did that place Kris? His feelings for her didn't change, but his feelings for Rory were questionable. He closed his eyes, remembering Kris' face, her laugh, her mischievous smile. He fell asleep with her in mind. 

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Kris returned after walking around town and calming down. She was still upset about the situation, but what else could she do but accept it? She wasn't sure how Jess was feeling, which was the worst part. 

Rory and Lorelai came into the diner for dinner later. They sat at the counter, and the townspeople came over, giving Rory hugs and kisses and welcoming her home. _She really is the town princess_, Kris thought. The town attitude towards Kris was now one of indifference and Kris liked it that way. 

"What can I get you guys?" Kris asked Rory and Lorelai. Lorelai was beaming at the attention Rory was getting from the town. 

"Usual, just make it two," Lorelai said.

"Sure thing," Kris said. 

After the crowd died down around Rory, and while Lorelai and Rory were talking together, Lorelai's phone rang. 

"Better take it outside, before Luke finds out," Rory suggested.

"Right, kido," Lorelai said, leaving the diner.

Rory turned to look at Kris who was taking someone else's order. Kris was still wearing Jess' clothes which irked Rory to no end. Kris returned to behind the counter and saw Rory looking at her. Kris wasn't sure how Rory felt about her. "Did you want something while you wait for your food?" Kris asked.

"Huh? No, no, thank you though," Rory replied tiredly. 

"Long day, huh?" Kris asked.

"Definitely," Rory said. She searched for something to say to Kris, something nice but on neutral territory. She couldn't think of anything. 

Just then, Jess walked into the diner. He smiled at Kris and Kris' eyes lit up. Rory turned around to see who it was and quickly turned back to Kris. Jess' smile fell. _Something must have happened_, Kris thought. 

Jess came around the counter and wrapped an arm around Kris and kissed her passionately, right in front of Rory. Kris looked at Jess questioningly. They never did anything but flirting, hugging, and pecks in public and just then Jess rammed his tongue into her mouth. It must have been because of Rory. "I thought you quit," she said thinking of something else to talk about besides her realization.

"Huh?"

"You taste like cigarettes, I thought you quit," Kris explained.

"Guess you were wrong," he retorted coldly. Kris was completely shocked at his attitude. Jess noticed this, but simply went upstairs. 

Kris turned back to Rory, "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," Rory said. She saw everything that had taken place. 

"Okay then," Kris said and she ran up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess was reading, once again on the bed, but his eyes didn't seem to be moving and he never turned the page.

"What was that about, Jess?" Kris asked calmly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the book.

"I just made a simple comment and then you're an ice cube to me."

"I just don't want people prodding into my business," Jess replied.

Kris got upset now. She got on the bed, and took the book out of Jess' hands.

"Hey!" Jess said.

"You weren't even reading it!" Kris fired back, throwing the book down onto the floor. "The last time I checked, people who care about each other prod into each other's business to a certain extent. I thought you said you were quitting and now I see that you're not and I'm concerned about your health. And what was up with you kissing me like that in front of Rory? Were you trying to prove something to her? I don't want to be used as some proof that you're better off without her! God, what the hell did you two talk about to get you so pissed?" Kris asked, completely confused, flustered, and angry.

Jess looked down. Kris knew him too well. "Sorry," he said.

"I know you're sorry, but I need an explanation," Kris said softer.

Jess didn't know what to say. He smoked cause he needed a release and smoking always gave him that relief. Kris was right though, he kissed her like that to shove it in Rory's face, but why did he feel the need to shove it in her face? Shouldn't he not care about what she thought? That was what bothered him so badly. He did just use Kris, after all that she had done for him, he used her. Guilt and self-disgust swept through him. How could he be that selfish?

Kris couldn't tell what Jess was thinking, but his facial expression changed constantly. "Jess?" she asked, much like she did that night on the bridge right before he kissed her for the first time. But this time she knew he wouldn't be kissing her after he came out of this trance.

Jess looked at her briefly, but then back at the bed spread under them. "You're right," he croaked out. He couldn't bring himself to look at her face.

Kris inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "So, are you not quitting now?" she said, changing the subject and trying vainly to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Jess felt even worse now. He now knew that whenever Kris changed the subject it was because she didn't want to deal with or couldn't deal with the previous subject. 

"The smoking?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"No, I quit. For real this time. Screw that shit," he said angrily, though he wasn't only talking about the cigarettes. He got off the bed and threw the cigarettes and lighter into the trash furiously. 

Kris watched quietly on the bed, understanding the double meaning in his words, but unable to believe him. If he didn't care about Rory, then why would he go out of his way to prove that he didn't like her anymore? But she'd wait until Jess told her, she might be reading all of this wrong. 

"I'm gonna get my clothes out of the drier and change," Kris said, getting off Jess' bed. 

Jess exhaled with frustration. Things were going so well, he was happy, Kris was happy, and now...he wanted to hate Rory with a passion, but he couldn't. He didn't want this to be the end of a relationship with Kris. 

Kris came back a while later, a bundle of clothes in her hands, "Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes," she said thoughtfully, handing the clothes to Jess.

Jess looked at her steadily. Her eyes looked sad, though she wore an encouraging smile on her face. 

"You should keep them, they really do look good on you," Jess replied, trying to smile.

Kris laughed and for a second, he saw her eyes light up like they always did when she was with him, like they did just a few minutes ago when he walked into the diner. "But you have more interesting clothes than a blue shirt and khaki cargoes, I'd rather wear something else the next time," Kris said.

"Next time?" Jess asked, a little too hopefully than he would have liked.

Kris smiled, "Yeah, next time." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please Review!! Thanks bunches!!


	11. Can't Hold You Back

Author's Note: I know where this story is going now! Won't say anything, though, must read to find out. Thank you to my reviewers. This chapter was hard to write, painful to write, and well, hopefully it's good. Please read/review! I'd really appreciate that! Thanks!

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She lay in her bed that same night. If she were to lose Jess, what would happen? That was something her dad taught her: to imagine the worse case scenario and plan for that...that way, anything better would be a pleasant surprise. She prayed that she would get a pleasant surprise regarding Jess.

She shook away thoughts about her dad, which only brought thoughts about her mom back, which brought thoughts of L.A. and her friends there. She had too much the think about regarding Jess, she didn't want to deal with anything else. She eventually fell asleep.

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"Coffee," Kris mumbled sitting down at a stool the next morning in the diner. She hadn't gotten much sleep, her mind was too preoccupied. 

"Good morning to you too," Jess said, pouring Kris a cup.

Kris glared at him, but the effect was ruined by a yawn. Jess laughed.

"Finals are today," Jess said, coming around the counter to her side.

Kris' eyes lit up. "Really? That's today?" she asked sipping her coffee.

"Yeah."

"Feel ready?" Kris asked.

"Yeah, whatever," Jess said, shrugging.

Kris smirked, and leaned up to kiss him. "Good luck, though you won't need it," she said, her eyes sparkling.

"I could always use more luck, you know," he said, leaning in to get another kiss. 

Kris pulled back though. "No, more later, if you do well. Consider it an incentive to pass your finals," she said. 

"Oh, that is not fair," Jess said with mock outrage.

"Deal with it," Kris said, shooing him out the door.

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It was two o'clock already and Jess wasn't back yet. He usually got out of summer school by one and now he was an hour late. Luke was antsy, acting very rude with customers while he anxiously awaited for Jess to return. Kris worried that the principal was telling him that he would have to repeat the eleventh grade or something equally horrible.

"Hello? Kris? Earth to Kris?" 

The voice pulled Kris back into reality. Lorelai and Rory were in front of her, Rory didn't look at her. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, um, did you want something?" Kris asked, shaking off her negative thoughts.

"Yeah, food, lots of it," Lorelai replied. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm alright. It's just that Jess took his finals today and he should have been back an hour ago," Kris explained. Rory stiffened at the mention of Jess and looked up at Kris, smiling weakly. 

"Ahhh, she's worried, isn't that sweet?" Lorelai said teasingly, nudging her daughter to agree. Rory had yet to tell her mom about the kiss that occurred six weeks ago, and Lorelai was very happy that Rory didn't seem to be talking much to Jess. Rory didn't answer her mom.

Just then Jess walked in, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Excuse me," Kris said to Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai's eye's followed Kris over to Jess who was about seven feet inside the door.

"Hey, where were you?" Kris asked Jess.

"School," Jess replied as if it were rather obvious.

Kris smirked. "You know what I mean, you're an hour late," Kris said.

"I waited around and got my grades," Jess said

"Oh, how are they?" Kris asked, trying to conceal her concern.

Jess shrugged dejectedly, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handing it to her. She looked at the folded paper, sensing his disappointment. She slowly opened the paper up, looked at it.

"Oh my God!" Kris screamed, throwing herself into Jess' arms. "Oh my God! Jess! Oh my God! And you had me thinking..." Kris voice trailed off as she realized that Jess was smiling mischievously now, relishing in the fact that he tricked her. "You are such a brat!" she said, hitting hit arm playfully.

Jess smiled even bigger and Luke ran down from upstairs, "What happened? What was the screaming? Jess! You're back! How'd your finals go? Did you get your grades?"

Kris turned to Jess. "Tell him," Kris insisted.

"No, you tell him," he replied.

"They're your grades."

"I want you to tell him."

Kris turned to Luke and shouted proudly, "One A, three B's!" 

Luke was in shock for a second, then a smile spread across his face. "Congratulations! You know what, take the day off. No, both of you guys take the rest of the day off! Go! Get out of here!" Luke said happily. 

"How about that incentive?" Jess whispered, kissing her neck as they left the diner.

Rory could see Kris jumping up and down with happiness as they walked along the sidewalk until Jess calmed her down by wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her passionately. Pangs of jealousy flowed through Rory now, seeing Jess so happy. Why couldn't she have called him while in D.C.? Why couldn't she have done something, anything, to explain to him how she felt? She had wasted so much time denying her feelings for Jess that when she finally admitted them, it was too late. It was selfish and arrogant to think that Jess hadn't moved on and she castigated herself for being so foolish. 

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Two days later, Rory walked into the diner to see Jess look up, right into her eyes. She willed herself to hold his gaze with her own eyes while walking over to the counter he was behind. 

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Jess replied, a hint of coldness in his voice. They hadn't talked since the first day she came back.

"So, congratulations on summer school. You should be really proud," Rory said encouragingly.

Jess wanted to say something really sarcastic to her just then, but simply replied, "Thanks." 

When he was in her presence, he suddenly became confused. This bothered him to no end, but he fought through it, trying to convince himself that this girl didn't have any hold on him. But in the end, he still had something for Rory, but hurting Kris was not an option.

"So, uh, read any good books this summer?" Rory asked lamely, trying desperately to hold a conversation with Jess, something she didn't used to have trouble doing.

"You know I suck at the small talk, Rory," Jess said. 

"I'm sorry, it's just that, I want things back how they were. When we would actually hold intellectual conversations," Rory admitted.

Jess looked straight at her. "Rory, you can't expect us to have a functional relationship when you were gone for six weeks after kissing me and never calling. People change, things change, and it's ridiculous to expect everything to go back to the way it was," Jess replied calmly. 

"I know," Rory said, dejectedly. "But since when did we have a functional relationship?"

Jess and Rory both laughed at this, just as Kris came from upstairs, looking sleepy. Through her sleepiness, she saw Jess and Rory laughing together for the first time, and there was an unmistakable flare in their eyes. It felt like a hand was squeezed around her heart, but she remained calm on the exterior.

"Hey," Jess said softly to Kris, kissing her forehead. Rory wished he had spoken to her like that. 

Kris smiled weakly. "Hi," she replied. "Hi, Rory."

"Hey," Rory said, trying to sound happy. Jess and she had just shared a moment, only to be interrupted by Kris. "How are you?"

"Jess tired me out," Kris said sleepily, rubbing the sand from her eyes. Rory's eyes bulged out momentarily and Kris realized what that sounded like. "I mean he tickled me to sleep," she added quickly for clarification. 

"I did not," Jess stated. 

"I'm not going to argue with you," Kris said. 

"So, uh, how do you like it here?" Rory asked. If Kris was Jess' girlfriend and Lane's cousin, she should at least get to know her. She didn't have to like her.

"In Stars Hollow? I think people here have way too much time on their hands, the way they meddle into other people's business. But, it's livable. I think I would have to spend sixteen years of my life here, though, like I did in L.A., to fully understand the people here," Kris said. 

"Wait, you're sixteen and going to be a senior?" Rory asked. The math didn't work, yet she could remember Lane telling her this on the phone.

"Yeah, skipped first grade," Kris explained. 

Rory looked at Jess who looked unfazed by this information.

"Wow," Rory said admirably.

"It's just first grade," Kris said modestly.

"That's still impressive," Rory admitted.

"Not as impressive as six AP's," Jess said nonchalantly.

Kris glared at Jess warningly. 

"What?" Rory asked.

"It's nothing, Jess is just being a jerk, again," Kris said brushing the topic off.

"Was it three in sophomore year, three in junior year?" Rory asked.

"No, two in sophomore, four in junior," Kris said.

"Cool," Rory said. She had taken four AP's and that was terribly difficult for her, so she had no idea how Kris took six.

"Uh, okay," Kris replied. Talking about AP classes wasn't very fun. "I'm gonna go back to the house, get some more sleep."

"Want me to walk you home?" Jess said.

"No, it's fine, I'll fend off the Stars Hollow boogie-man solo," Kris said. 

Rory smiled, this girl was pretty nice, like Lane had said. 

"Okay," Jess said. 

"Don't forget to close up for Luke," Kris added while hugging and kissing Jess good-night. 

"Yes ma'am," Jess teased.

"Night Rory," Kris said, ignoring Jess' comment.

"Good night."

They both watched her leave the diner.

"She's nice," Rory said, turning back to Jess.

"Yeah," Jess said, unable to hide a smile. 

Did Rory ever make him feel the way Kris did? His feelings for Rory were, well, full of angst and desire. With Kris, they were full of happiness. But angst somehow had a way with screwing up happiness.

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She had talked with Jess, that was good. But Jess kissed Kris, and that was bad. But at least after Kris left Jess and she clicked again. It seemed that Jess had forgiven her for kissing and running out on him. 

"Rory," someone called out. 

She turned around. Dean. Guilt poured into her by the bucketfuls. She had spent so much time thinking about Jess and Kris that Dean slipped her mind. She was still with him. How could she be that cruel? 

"Hi, Dean," she said. She didn't feel anything but friendship for him anymore, which scared her. She needed to break up with him, it was the only right thing to do, but that scared her even more.

"Listen, Rory, we need to talk," Dean said. It sounded as though he rehearsed this.

"Yeah, we do," Rory agreed.

"Um, ever since you got back, it doesn't seem like it's been clicking between us," he said. 

"Oh, it uh, hasn't?" Rory asked innocently.

"No, c'mon Rory, I see the way you look at Jess," Dean explained. Rory was about to protest when Dean added, "I'm not mad. We've just, grown apart."

"I see," she said quietly. Dean was actually breaking up with her, she couldn't believe it. After all that overprotectiveness and jealousy, what happened? 

"I want to still be friends," Dean said. I don't think I could function if we weren't friends."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, friends," she said. It felt like part of her was leaving forever, but another part felt so liberated. And she didn't have to do a thing! Dean leaned down and hugged her.

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"Hey, Kris, do you wanna play some ball?" Dean asked, strolling over to her while she was on her break, surprisingly, alone. 

"Oh, sorry Dean, I'm heading back to the diner right now, breaks over." Kris was worried that Dean was starting to like her while he was still with Rory. "Where's Rory?"

"I dunno," Dean shrugged, walking with Kris back to the diner. Kris gave him a quizzical look regarding his casual manner towards Rory. "We broke up," Dean explained.

It felt like Kris was socked in the stomach. They broke up. Now Rory was single, nothing holding her back from Jess. And Kris was holding Jess back. What if Jess wanted to be with Rory? Kris didn't want to hold Jess back from anything, even, even from a girl he wanted to be with more than herself. 

"When?" Kris managed to spit out.

"Two nights ago," Dean replied. 

"I'm sorry," Kris said.

"Don't be. It'll be alright. We just didn't have those types of feelings for each other anymore, it happens. I didn't think it was going to happen, but it did and it's okay," Dean said, smiling at her. Kris hoped she had nothing to do with this change of heart on Dean's part.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, Dean." They had arrived at the diner. 

"Alright, bye Kris," Dean said.

Kris exhaled as she entered the diner, trying to remain calm. Luckily Jess wasn't there at the moment, probably still sleeping. She was grateful, there was a lot she needed to think over.

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"Luke, where's Jess?" Kris asked the next morning. She had spent all night thinking about what she would do. Jess had heard that Rory and Dean weren't together anymore, and tried not to show any emotion over it. Kris could tell though that he was pleased. 

"Upstairs," Luke replied.

"Thanks," Kris said.

Walking into Jess' room, she could see him lying on the bed, wrapped up in a book. She laughed.

"Ms. Rowling is meeting your approval, eh?" she teased.

Jess lifted to book to see her face and smiled. "I guess you could say that," Jess replied. He was already on the fourth Harry Potter book.

"Please don't tell me you spent thirty dollars for number 4," Kris said, looking at the hardback book in his hands.

"No, I borrowed it from the bookstore," Jess replied, marking his page and closing the book. 

"The bookstore? Not the library?" Kris asked.

"Yeah," Jess replied.

Kris laughed. How could she do what she was about to do? She had to. She had been trying vainly to ignore what she saw, but she still saw it. Jess still had feelings for Rory. Her expression turned serious as she sat down on the bed in front of him. 

"Jess? I need to talk to you," she said.

"That is what you are doing," Jess replied teasingly, trying to kiss her.

It took all her strength to pull away. "I'm serious," she stated. 

Jess frowned. "Okay."

"Remember when I said that I wanted you to tell me if you started having feelings for Rory?"

Jess froze. She realized, she knew. He was so stupid. "Yeah."

Kris looked at him expectantly. 

"There's nothing between me and Rory, Kris," Jess said.

"I know, but do you want there to be?" she asked simply.

His eyes shot up to hers, "What?" he asked, shocked.

"Can you tell me that ever since she got back, you haven't thought about what it would be like if you were with her instead of me?" Kris asked calmly. 

His eyes fell, he couldn't bring himself to look at her. 

Kris understood. "She doesn't have a boyfriend now," she said.

"But I have a girlfriend," Jess insisted, grabbing her hand. 

She didn't pull away, but squeezed it. "I'm not going to hold you back," Kris said.

"So our relationship isn't worth fighting for?" Jess asked. He was reverting back to his old self, attacking the person who was hurting him.

Kris didn't take the bait though. "It's worth too much to fight over. I have to let you go. I can't be your girlfriend if you have 'what ifs' with Rory. I don't want you to view our relationship as a regret if you want to be with her. I couldn't be happy living like that, living in denial. I wouldn't be able to deal with that. Do you want to be with her?"

"Kris, I..." He, deep down inside, wanted to see what it would be like with Rory, sure, but Dean always held him back. Dean wasn't part of the equation now, but Kris was. He couldn't hurt her, he didn't care about her any less.

She touched his face and he kissed her palm. "This doesn't mean that I don't care about you anymore, Jess. But you need to figure out what you want. If it's Rory, be with Rory. If it's me, come back to me. But you won't know until you try and see what happens."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Jess asked, truly scared of losing the only person he wasn't scared of being scared in front of.

"I'm not, I'm scared. Really scared. But, I owe you this much," she said.

"You owe me nothing," Jess said, completely disgusted with himself for having feelings for Rory and losing Kris because of it.

Kris' eyes were about to shed tears, without her consent. She wrapped her hands around his neck tightly. "Thank you for all you have done for me." Jess held her even closer, unable to say anything to her. When they pulled apart, Kris smiled courageously and kissed his forehead. "See you later."

She got up, and walked out of the room, not looking at him again. 

When she got halfway down the stairs, she heard a hardback book slam ferociously against the wall. She paused, thought about going back up there, but instead ran down the remaining steps and out of _Luke's, _tears trailing behind her.

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Please Review!!


	12. The Pain

Author's Note: Hey everyone, sorry it's been a week since my last update. School has started and I'm really busy with classes, so I've had no time. I think the story is coming to a close soon, but we'll see. Please read/review for me! Thanks to all my reviewers, I really appreciate you taking the time out to read and review my work! Enjoy!

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She ran as hard as she could, with no direction. She ran to the bridge, but that brought back memories of Jess, so she ran to the gazebo, but that too brought memories back of Jess, so she ran to the school but even the school, of all places, brought back memories of Jess. She ran back to the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She collapsed onto her bed and cried.

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Luke heard the slam against the wall and went upstairs to investigate. Kris wasn't there, but a pacing, cursing Jess was. His room was in shreds, his chair was toppled over and books and CD's were scattered on the floor. 

"What happened?" Luke asked, picking his footing through the rubble of what was Jess' room a few minutes ago.

"Get the hell out!" Jess yelled. 

"What happened?" Luke yelled equally loud.

"Screw this," Jess mumbled, leaving his room. 

Luke followed him out onto the diner floor. "Jess!"

Jess ignored him. He pushed the door open violently and left the diner. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Luke's_," Luke said, picking up the phone a few hours after Jess' dramatic departure from the diner.

"Luke, it's Kris."

"Kris? Oh, hey, is Jess with you? He left really pissed. Can you talk to him?"

There was a pause. 

"Kris?"

"Jess and I broke up," Kris said.

"Oh, I see," Luke said quietly. He knew this was because of Rory.

"I can't come to work today or tomorrow," Kris said.

"Right, okay, then I'll see you in a couple of days?" Luke said. 

"Yeah. Thanks. Sorry to do this to you."

"It's fine," Luke said. "Bye," and he hung up the phone.

The whole day went by with no sign of Jess. Every time the bell rang, Luke looked up to find either a complaining Taylor or Kirk or Lorelai and Rory. 

"What's wrong?" Rory asked Luke, trying to look around the diner inconspicuously to see Jess. Maybe they could talk some more. 

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Luke said, realizing it wasn't his place to discuss Jess and Kris with Lorelai and Rory. 

"Luke, darling, won't you come here?" Ms. Patty said from a corner booth.

Luke went over with his coffee pot to refill Ms. Patty's cup. 

"Luke, is it true that Kris and Jess are no more?" she asked him, not bothering to whisper.

"What? What gives you that idea?" Luke asked, playing innocent.

"Well, I heard that Kris left here crying earlier this morning and Jess and her are no where in sight all over the town," Ms. Patty explained logically, looking up at Luke waiting for his answer.

"I don't know," Luke said, walking away.

Rory and Lorelai had heard the conversation. They looked at each other, Lorelai looking as though she had just eaten something sour. Rory tried to suppress her excitement. True, she wondered if Jess and Kris broke up for a fact, but at least there was that possibility. She instantaneously felt guilty for wishing that Kris and Jess had broken up...who was she to wish people like Jess and Kris ill, especially when Kris was so nice to her? She wouldn't take advantage of the situation, but maybe, just maybe, Jess might talk to her more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why did she do it? Why? What was she thinking, screwing up her relationship with Jess? She wanted to run over there and tell him she was sorry and that she wanted him back. Because she was sorry and wanted him back. 

But she wanted all of him back, and she knew that was impossible to have if he was thinking about Rory. Was she being selfish, wanting him to only want to be with her? She wasn't experienced in these things, but she always thought that the boyfriend should only want the girlfriend and if that didn't happen, then they should break up. Which is what she and Jess did. She knew that in the back of her mind she wouldn't be happy being with Jess while he thought of being with someone else, but she still yearned for his arms around her.

She tried to hate him, make herself think that the miserableness she felt inside was solely his fault. But it wasn't. He had told her before about Rory and she still decided to be with him. Did she think that she would take his mind off Rory forever? She must have been kidding herself - the inexperienced girl from Los Angeles being adequate for the desires of the bad-boy from New York City. Jess never pushed her into doing anything more than kissing, but what if Jess did want more? Kris shook her head in response to those thoughts. Even if Jess wanted sex and voiced his desires, she still wouldn't have done anything, she wouldn't have been ready.

There was a knock at the door. _Lane_, Kris thought.

"Come in," Kris mumbled. She was suddenly tired from all the crying she did after calling Luke. She just wanted to sleep.

Mrs. Kim entered the room. "I thought you were working today," she said unemotionally. 

The interaction between Mrs. Kim and Kris was at its bare minimum and Kris liked it that way, though having an adult to talk to who wasn't your now-ex-boyfriend's uncle or mother to the girl of your now-ex-boyfriend's dreams would have been nice. 

"I'm not working today," Kris said

"It's that boy, isn't it?" Mrs. Kim asked, angered.

"So what if it is?" Kris said, looking up at her. 

Mrs. Kim shook her head from side to side. "What did I tell you about him?"

"I don't remember."

"He's trouble."

"I broke it off with him," Kris said coldly, trying to mask the pain she felt. She wasn't going to show anything towards the aunt who showed her nothing.

Mrs. Kim was surprised. Despite her disgust for Jess, Mrs. Kim wasn't as blind as Kris thought she was and she saw that Kris truly liked this boy. "What happened?"

"Why do you care?" Kris asked.

Mrs. Kim sat down on the bed. "Because my niece is hurt."

"All of the sudden, I'm your niece?" Kris asked wryly.

Mrs. Kim actually looked ashamed. "I know I haven't been a good aunt. But you are my family."

"Family is supposed to love each other, and take care of each other. I know that you didn't want me to live here, but you had to take me in." 

"Do you know why I didn't want you to come?" Mrs. Kim asked Kris.

Kris shook her head.

"There is so much of your mother in you. I knew that if you came here, it would remind me of all that time I should have been a sister to her, but wasn't. Sixteen years I held a grudge, for what? Because your father was Japanese? What a stupid thing to fight over, and I lost my only sister because of it."

"You could have called, she would have talked to you," Kris said, her attitude towards her aunt softening.

"Eventually, after so many years, you feel like it is too late. I'm sorry that I insulted your father, but that argument we had reminded me so much of the argument Jessica and I had. And you are right about Lane, I am not letting her live her own life. That's because I was scared that she would leave me like your mother did. I'm so sorry."

Kris was completely confused now. It seemed as though her aunt truly was sorry, maybe she wasn't as terrible a person as Kris thought, but this morph from cold-heartedness to sincere regret was extremely sudden. Kris leaned over and hugged her aunt, something she would not have done otherwise a few minutes ago, but holding grudges was a stupid thing to do. 

"It's okay. I'm sorry that I haven't been really an angel to you. You'll only lose Lane if you chose to chain her still," Kris said.

Mrs. Kim smiled understandingly. "So," she said, "can I hit this Jess guy with one of my chairs?" She actually made a joke and Kris laughed. 

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Jess woke up early the next day, despite the fact that he hadn't come back home until one in the morning. Kris. He lost Kris. He had spent the entire day trying to forget about her, trying to hate her. He resorted to calling her names and cursing her very existence, but those curses were hollow and he knew it. He wanted her back, badly. The squeeze in his chest hadn't subsided with sleep. 

It was his fault. Why did he still have feelings for the girl that kissed and ran out on him? There was no logic whatsoever. Why couldn't he just forget about Rory and think solely of Kris. True, whenever Kris was physically with him, he never thought of Rory. But, whenever Rory was with him, he didn't think of Kris...and that was what was wrong. 

But who was to say that if he were to be with Rory, that he wouldn't be thinking about Kris? This was all so confusing.

He got up, showered, and took in the sight of what used to be his room. Everything was on the floor...he must have been really mad yesterday. Even madder than he was right now. He wasn't mad at Kris, no matter how hard he tried to be. He was pissed at himself, pissed and disgusted.

After rearranging his stuff and dividing all his CD's once again into genres, he went downstairs to work. Kris wasn't there. Most likely she wouldn't be there that day, if he knew her at all. 

Rory entered the diner, alone. It was pretty early in the morning and Lorelai probably wasn't awake yet. "Hey, can I have some pancakes?" she asked Jess.

"Sure," Jess said, scribbling down the order for Luke to cook. 

"So, uh, how are things?" Rory asked. She still didn't know whether or not Kris and Jess really did break up or if it was just a rumor.

"Whatever," Jess replied. 

"Where's Kris?" Rory asked gently.

"Rory, why do you ask me questions when you know the answers?" Jess asked, looking straight into her blue eyes. "The whole town probably knew twenty minutes after it happened."

They had broken up. "I'm sorry," Rory said. It seemed like the only appropriate thing for her to say.

"Are you? Cause I wasn't sorry when Dean broke up with you," Jess replied honestly. 

She blushed but couldn't reply. He had caught Rory off guard. He smirked when she didn't answer, he hadn't expected her to answer anyway.

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As promised, Kris went to work after the two days at home. Yes, it was her home now. She felt wanted there, for the first time. Lane was happy in the sudden change in her mom, and didn't ask questions. Mrs. Kim actually let Lane miss Bible class so that she could go to the music store.

Kris scanned the diner but couldn't see Jess. She didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. What would she say to him? How should she act?

"He's not here," Luke said, seeing Kris look around the room.

"Oh, okay." What was the point in pretending that she wasn't looking for him? "Rory with him?"

"Actually, yeah..." Luke said hesitantly.

Though she could have sworn she felt like fainting, Kris managed to give Luke a knowing smile before starting work. This was the whole point of breaking up with Jess, wasn't it? For him to find out what he wanted? Kris just hadn't expected it to be this painful. 

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For the next few days Kris and Jess rarely saw each other. Whenever Jess was in the diner and Kris walked in, he would immediately leave. He didn't seem angry, but more sad, and Kris was pretty sure that she looked the same way. 

Slowly, Jess had rebuilt his relationship with Rory to a comfortable friendship. He had forgiven her for running out on him after the kiss after all. When he engaged in passionate literary debates with Rory, he was oblivious to everything else, except when he saw Kris. Complete happiness washed over him whenever he saw her, only to be covered up by guilt. He had successfully managed to screw up the first meaningful relationship he had with a girl. He still wasn't sure if he liked Rory as more than a friend. Sure, he respected and admired her, but he didn't trust her, not yet, with his feelings. 

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"Hey, Kris," Dean said, walking up to her a week and a half after he told her he had broken up with Rory. 

"Hi, Dean," Kris said as they both walked towards the school. She had intended to play some basketball alone to clear her head. Seeing Jess with Rory made her so jealous. 

"Going to the school?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Can I come play with you?"

"Sure, why not?" Kris said. Company wasn't a bad thing after all. 

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There was a silence in the conversation, a rather uncomfortable one. Jess sat there, his feet dangling over the side of the bridge, with Rory by his side. 

"Jess?" Rory had broken the silence.

"Yeah?" Jess asked, relieved he didn't have to start the conversation this time.

"I'm glad that we're friends again," Rory stated honestly.

Jess couldn't help but smirk. "I don't think we ever stopped."

Rory looked surprised.

"I mean, yeah, I was upset. But that's over," Jess explained briefly. For the first time since his time with Rory that day, his thoughts drifted towards Kris as a cigarette butt floated along the surface of the pond water. All the memories of her convincing him to quit and stories about her great-aunt who died, and...everything came back to him. 

He turned to Rory. He knew what he needed to do, but getting the courage to do it was another thing. He inhaled inconspicuously and leaned towards her, capturing her lips with his. His mind tried to convince him that this was exactly what he wanted. But why the hell were memories of Kris swirling around in his mind as he kissed Rory? This wasn't supposed to happen this way. This wasn't the way it felt the first time.

Rory could see confusion, realization, and disappointment streak Jess' face as they pulled away from the kiss. Rory had thought that the kiss would be as passionate as the kiss they had shared before she left for D.C., but it wasn't. Why wasn't it? Wasn't this what she wanted? She had thought about Jess for all of the D.C. trip, she had thought about his every single day she since she came home. But...something was wrong. 

Jess and Rory looked at each other, realizing they were thinking the same thing.

"I hafta go," Jess said, realizing he had to tell Kris what happened, now. 

"Yeah, go ahead, go find her," Rory said encouragingly.

Jess actually smiled that time, silently thanking her. She smiled back at him. She was attracted the memory of Jess and Jess was a different person now. She let him go.

Jess ran towards the diner, looking for Kris in every direction.

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"See, this is why I don't play with you, we always wind up in this position!" Kris said, laughing at Dean, who was on top of her again.

Dean laughed, quickly got up, and helped Kris up. "You know you love it," he jested. _You know you love it..._that's what Jess had said to her when he tickled her. Her thoughts trailed off towards him, but she quickly focused back on Dean, who was looking at her funny. 

The next thing she knew, Dean's lips her pressed firmly on hers. What the heck was going on? When she finally processed the shock and confusion of having Dean kiss her, she pulled away, walking backwards to get enough room between them. Shock ran through her body.

"Sorry," Dean said, disappointed by her reaction to the kiss.

"Why'd you do that?" Kris asked bluntly, probably not the nicest thing she could have said at that moment.

"I like you," Dean admitted.

"You don't even know me," Kris said, puzzled.

"I know you enough to know that I like you. That I couldn't be with Rory if I like you as well."

Kris didn't know what to say. He broke up with Rory because of her? _What?_

"I'm sorry," Dean said again.

"It's okay," she replied slowly. "But, did I in any way lead you on?"

"No," Dean said. "You were with Jess all the time," he added resentfully.

"I'm sorry Dean, but I can't be with you. I love Jess," Kris said. She surprised herself with her words. She never even told Jess that. Despite all the stuff that had happened to her, she found a way to fall in love, without even wanting to. Funny how those things work out.

Dean looked completely rejected. "Right," he said flatly, and walked away.

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Jess ran to the diner, but Kris wasn't there. He ran to her house, but Lane said Kris wasn't there. The basketball courts, he hadn't checked there. He could hear laughing there...a guy laughing with a girl? His ears must have heard wrong. 

Nope, when the basketball courts came into view, he saw Dean on top of Kris, both of them laughing. Anger and jealousy coursed through him, but he stayed put. After all, he wasn't her boyfriend anymore. They kissed, Jess couldn't believe it, they kissed! He turned around, not wanting to see them continue and ran away, fast. 

All his thoughts were completely blurred. Just when he realized that she was the only one he needed and wanted, she replaced him with the Neanderthal. She lied! Shit! She said Dean wasn't her type. What a liar! Jess hated her, cursed her. He ran to the diner, up the stairs, and into his room, slamming the door after him. Luke didn't investigate this time.

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Please Review!


	13. The Return

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Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry it took a week for an update. I realized that I should have this story done by the Season Premier of Gilmore Girls next Tuesday, since my story is completely different than the story they will have. This chapter is slightly shorter, but very important. The next chapter will be the last, sort of like the "epilogue" of my story. Thank you all for the reviews. I can't believe that I got over 50 reviews! Wow! 

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Kris came into the diner, a few hours after Dean had kissed her. It wasn't a bad kiss, but it didn't feel right...it didn't feel like how Jess made her feel. She cursed herself for falling in love with a guy who, deep down, loved Rory. He was standing in front of her at that very moment. 

"Hi, can I have some coffee, please?" she asked Jess. She had already done her eight hours that day and Luke banned her from behind the counter for fear that she would start working to help out. 

Jess had just come down the stairs a few minutes before she had come in, and when he saw her, he gave his back to her. He didn't want to look at her. He couldn't refuse her request, however. He turned around abruptly, grabbed a coffee cup, slammed it on the counter and poured coffee into it sloppily. He was even more upset that he wasn't able to appear indifferent in front of Kris. 

Kris looked at him. Something must have gone wrong with Rory. "What's wrong?" Kris asked him innocently.

Jess sneered at her. How could she think he wouldn't find out? That she could hide this from him? Part of him reminded himself that she wasn't his girlfriend, but that part was overcome by jealousy. "Nothing," he replied coldly. He went upstairs.

Without hesitation Kris followed him up. "Jess. Jess!"

He turned around when he had gotten to his room. 

She looked behind him and saw a complete mess. "Jess, what happened?" she asked, concern filling her voice. She walked around him to examine the mess in his room. Everything was on the floor, even the bed mattress. Jess became annoyed that she was feigning concern. She obviously didn't give a crap about him anymore.

"Rearranging my stuff," Jess replied coldly. He wanted her out of his room and out of his life, the less he saw her face the better. Why wasn't she with the Neanderthal right about now?

"What's wrong?" Kris asked again soothingly. Jess never looked this pissed before and it scared her.

"Look, why don't you run along to your Neanderthal and get the hell out of here. If you wanted to break up with me to be with him, you should have told me in the first place instead of making me feel guilty about Rory. What kind of shit were you trying to pull?" Jess said in the most hurtful tone he could muster.

Kris instinctively moved back, trying to shield herself from Jess' tone of voice. How could he think that? Pain, resentment, but mostly anger filled her. Didn't he know how much it hurt her to see him and Rory together? Obviously not. 

"What??" Kris asked angrily. "Neanderthal? Dean?? Are you talking about Dean?" anger rising in her voice.

"Wow, she really must be a genius," Jess replied coldly, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. He tried think of something extremely hurtful to say to her, but nothing came to mind.

The words stung her. "Jess, don't be stupid. Dean's not my type, I told you that," she stated angrily, trying to hide her pain.

"Didn't seem like that when his tongue was down your throat," Jess said disgustingly. 

Oh, so that was what this whole thing was about. "Yeah, Dean kissed me, but did you see me pull away and tell him that I don't like him?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Jess paused before he was about to spit something else out to her. She didn't like Dean? He didn't respond to her question.

"Don't second-guess me or my intentions, remember? That was part of the deal," Kris said assertively, but the anger gone from her voice.

Jess swallowed hard, remembering she had said that and he had promised he never would second-guess her. But he did and now felt like a complete ass. But he needed to tell her. 

"I kissed Rory."

"Wow Jess, way to hurt someone's feelings. I don't want to know about it," Kris said shortly, turning towards the stair case. Jess accused her of lying to him, purposely hurt her feelings and told her that he kissed Rory. She thought he wasn't that thick, but she was apparently wrong. Annoyance and jealousy coursed through her.

"I didn't feel it," Jess said, as if he didn't hear what Kris had said.

Kris froze. "What?" she asked, turning to face him again. She met his eyes. Hope filled her for a brief moment. 

"I didn't feel _it. _You know what I mean," he said. There was no way to describe that tingly feeling where everything at the exact moment was right when Jess and Kris kissed.

"I do," she said quietly. She thought quickly. Did this mean...

"I don't like her," he said. "It's weird. I was obsessed with the memory of her, never thinking that she might have changed and that we would grow out of each other, which we did."

"She doesn't like you?" Kris asked.

"No."

Kris didn't know what to say. She smiled at him slightly and he returned the smile, and her smile widened until she started laughing with happiness. Jess watched her expression change and memorized what she looked like at that exact moment, absolutely beautiful. 

She ran over to him and jumped into his arms. He caught her held her there for a moment, just looking at her, memorizing her, then set her down. She wouldn't let go of him though, her arms were wrapped firmly around his neck. She stroked the back of his neck repeatedly as if trying to convince herself that she was, in fact, stroking his neck. She had him back. 

Jess was so relieved. How could he have ever thought Kris would like Dean? How could he have ever wanted to hurt her? He blamed it on insane jealousy and left it at that. He had more important things to think about, like how he was going to breath with Kris wrapped so tightly around him, not that he minded much.

Jess unwrapped her arms from his neck, but Kris moaned in complaint. He kissed her quickly to silence her. Now this was how it was supposed to feel...he had missed it so much. She seemed to agree and deepened the kissed. 

When they parted, Jess whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Kris whispered back.

Jess smirked. "For acting like Dean would, all jealous and crazed."

Kris suppressed a laugh as best as she could. "It happens," she said casually, leaning in to kiss him again. 

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"Can I ask you something?" Jess asked, while playing with her hair. The setting sun glinted off Kris' red streaked hair, making it sparkle in a shade of magenta, and Jess was fascinated. They lay on his bed that was now back where it belonged. They had spent an hour and a half fixing up his room. Jess realized that destroying his room was great therapy, but not worth the clean-up.

"Obviously, you've just done so. You may ask me one more thing, however," Kris replied in a deep voice, mimicking Professor Dumbledore's words, while closing the now battered copy of _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ that Jess had never returned to the bookstore.

"Enough with Harry Potter. It's bad when you can quote stuff from the first book while reading the fourth. It's called an obsession," Jess said, feigning annoyance.

"Yes, and I'm proud of it too, but I'll stop. What was your question?" Kris asked, looking up at Jess from her very comfortable position with her head on his chest.

Jess hesitated. His question was stupid, he knew it. 

"Forget it, it was stupid anyways," Jess said, brushing the matter off.

"No way, not getting away with that. Ask me, I won't laugh or anything," Kris said encouragingly.

"It's none of my business anyways," Jess replied, hoping to drop the topic, though he was the one to bring it up.

"I think that's for me to decide. Ask me," Kris said, sitting up on the bed facing him. Jess' hesitation made her realize that if she wasn't adamant about him asking whatever he wanted to ask, his curiosity would eat him up inside.

"I wanted to know what you thought about Dean's kiss," Jess stated uncomfortably. Jess shifted so that he supported himself on the wall behind the bed. He instinctively thought that Kris would blow up at his curiosity and was preparing himself for a scream-fest by moving away from her.

Kris was somewhat surprised and Jess interpreted this as disgust. 

"It was stupid and none of my business. I'm acting like a shithead and..." Kris moved up so that her knees were on either side of Jess' extended legs and sat in his lap, facing him. He wasn't expecting that reaction, though he did welcome the contact. She stroked his forearm idly while she spoke.

"I was really surprised that he kissed me, cause I didn't think he liked me. I actually was thinking about you right before he kissed me, so I was confused and shocked. The kiss was fine, but it was kinda like how I imagine kissing a cousin would be like, but I have no experience with kissing Lane," Kris joked. Yeah, it was none of Jess' business, but Kris didn't mind talking about it since it was meaningless to her. 

Jess smirked. Kris was beyond words...it was like she could read his mind and knew he just wanted some piece of mind regarding Dean and lay any insecurities to rest. 

"You just can't get me out of your mind, eh?" he teased, drawing her closer to him. 

"Don't get an ego trip over that," Kris replied, smiling.

"But you didn't deny it," Jess whispered in her ear. 

His breath was hot on her ear and she inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure. 

"Cause I can't," she replied softly, laying feather-light kisses on his neck.

He instinctively held her tighter and buried his head in her hair. He tried to memorize how he felt at that exact moment, all those emotions swimming around him that he had no control over. No, he did have control, didn't he? Of course he did, he was Jess Mariano and nothing would ever make him lose his self-control. But, didn't he lose it when he destroyed his room because of her...twice? _No, that was nothing, I was just upset, no one could ever make me lose it. _

Their relationship wasn't supposed to go that far. And he wasn't about to become a big emotional mush-ball, that just wasn't his style and never would be. Ever. He could never allow himself to feel completely naked around her, or anyone, though he knew Kris could see though the games he played. 

"I'm glad that we're like this again," Jess said, mentally kicking himself for even toying with the idea of fully exposing himself and declaring his undying...no, that was just getting too emotional. 

"Yeah? Me too," Kris said, somewhat disappointed about Jess' response. 

Though she now knew that Jess liked her and only her, she didn't know how much he cared and yearned to know. But she would never corner him into telling her if he didn't want to.

"Yup. Very glad," Jess said mischievously while kissing her. He moved his hands along her waist and suddenly began tickling her. 

"You are such a brat!" Kris laughed out. Jess laughed too.

From the diner, Luke could hear laughter and sighed in relief. So maybe those two were good for each other after all. 

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Author's Note: Please review my story, the feedback is great. It's what made me decide to make this a Kris/Jess, though I do like Rory/Jess stories. To the Rory/Jess fans, thank you for reading this story and sorry to disappoint you, but I had to do what I viewed as right for this story. In the show, Rory and Jess are destined for each other, have no fear. =)


	14. The Confession Epilogue

Author's Note: Well, folks, this is the epilogue, in a sense. It could be considered a independent chapter, but it's doesn't have much Gilmore Girls orientation, except for Jess, of course. I think I've fallen in love with the character I've created, regarding Jess. But anyways, that's how it should be! Hope you enjoy it! Please read/review!!

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School started much to everyone's regret. The classes were fairly easy for Kris, but juggling working at the diner, homework, college applications, and her relationship with Jess did get stressful at times. She really wished her parents were there to help her. Though Mrs. Kim did act like a real aunt to her now, she could never replace the void that Kris felt from the loss of her parents, nothing ever would.

Jess walked in the diner around four o'clock on a November day. He went behind the counter where Kris was serving some coffee and a ham sandwich to a customer. 

"Hey," he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"Hi, how was school?" she asked. She got out of school at twelve o'clock since she only had four classes and worked while Jess took his afternoon classes. Jess had actually been attending class on a frequent basis.

"Boring as always. How was it for you?" Jess said, kissing Kris' neck and trying to cajole her upstairs for more privacy. 

"Same," she said, taking his hint and calling out to Luke that she was taking her break. She and Jess quickly went upstairs. 

"School is the most pointless thing in the world. I don't care about the crap they attempt to teach me," Jess said when they reached his room.

"I know how you feel, but if you don't go, you won't graduate. You already worked during summer school and it would suck if that work was wasted. Besides, I doubt you actually need to study to pass your classes," Kris said, collapsing on his bed.

"That's not the point though," Jess said, falling on the bed besides her. "I don't want to go. It's a waste of time. I don't care if I don't graduate," Jess said defiantly.

Kris turned over to her side to face him. "If you didn't care if you graduated, then why'd you bother going to summer school? I mean, you could have just repeated junior year and whatever," she said simply.

"I only went to summer school cause I had just come back from New York and Luke said that things had to change. So I acted as the good nephew would and passed junior year."

"I see. So there was no satisfaction when you got your report card back with your good grades?" Kris nudged him, smiling.

"Only the incentive that I got from you," Jess said mischievously, leaning in to kiss her.

Kris blushed but didn't let him kiss her. "Look, Jess, seriously, please don't go ditching school. I can't be holding your hand and trying to pull you into school everyday, it has to be something that you do cause you think it needs to be done. Yeah, school is a bunch of busy work, but I don't want you living with regrets. I don't want you in ten years to regret never bothering to get your diploma when you knew it was easy to do. You're so much better than that," she said, taking her hand in his while they faced each other on the bed. 

Jess sighed. She just had a way of getting to him, of making him feel that he was worth something. "Alright, fine," he said. 

Kris' eyes lit up and she smiled. She stuck her right pinky finger out and Jess wrapped his around hers in promise. 

"Thank you," she said, kissing him gratefully. 

He was annoyed that Kris had so much control over him simply because she inspired him to be a better person. No, he meant, he was annoyed that _he let _Kris have so much control over him. He didn't let himself admit that in the deepest crevices of his heart, he had fallen hard for her, fallen very hard. His ego and fear drove those thoughts out of his head, but they were creeping up on him all the time. 

What if he told her how he felt and she ran because she didn't feel that way? She had gone through so much these past months and maybe she wasn't ready. Was he even ready? No, he wouldn't let himself be ready. He swore a long time ago that he would never let anyone that close to him, close enough to severely hurt him. But what if there was something to gain?....No, not worth it. 

"Jess?" Kris asked in a concerned voice.

Jess tore from his thoughts and looked at her. She was so cute when she looked worried. He could wipe that worried expression away if he told her..._No, not going to tell her anything_, he thought to himself.

"Jess, is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just, I, I need to take a walk," he said, getting off the bed.

"Want me to come with?"

"No," he said, a little too quickly than he should have. 

Kris hid her disappointment well though. "Okay, see you later then," Kris said.

"Yeah, later," Jess said, leaving the room and walking out the diner. 

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For the next week Jess remained distant. Kris didn't know what she had done to cause such a change in attitude. He had barely conversed with her at all since the time they discussed school. Whenever Kris tried to talk to him he gave monosyllabic answers and quickly walked away. She thought that maybe he needed space, or perhaps he was getting tired of her; she couldn't tell. 

Jess had ditched school that Friday. Kris didn't know until the principal called Luke around one o'clock, notifying him that Jess wasn't in second period when the official roll was taken. Frustration, disappointment, and anger flowed through Kris because Jess had said that he wouldn't ditch. He had promised.

Jess strolled into the diner at three o'clock acting as though nothing was wrong. Luke was furious.

"Where the hell have you been?" Luke asked angrily. Kris watched from behind the counter.

"School," Jess replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The principal just called, he said you never checked into second period! So, try again! Where have you been?" Luke yelled.

Jess sighed and smirked cockily. "Around," he replied.

Luke was furious now. "Jess, you promised that this would change and you really had me fooled. I mean, for the past five months you've been great, almost too great, I should have guessed that it wouldn't last. I should have guessed that it was only an act and you'd go back to the way you were after a while. Yeah, in a way it's my naivety that makes me so pissed, but really, I really had faith in you! But then again, it's you!" Luke yelled.

"Yeah, whatever," Jess replied, shrugging past him and going up to his room.

Kris was shocked that Luke had said all that. Sure, she was pissed at Jess for lying, but Luke took that too far. Luke paced around the diner, customers eventually stopped staring.

"Shit," he whispered, frustrated and shaking his head.

Kris went up the stairs to talk to Jess. The door to his room was closed, and she knocked gently before going in. Jess was sitting at the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.

"I really don't wanna hear another lecture," Jess said, not bothering to look at her.

"Why'd you do it?" Kris asked gently.

"Why do I hafta explain myself to you? Huh?" Jess asked coldly, finally looking up at her.

"It's just that you promised that you would ditch," Kris stated.

"Yeah, well it's not of your business, so back off." Jess looked straight into her eyes and she felt the desire to step away from him, but she stood her ground.

"Look, what Luke said was out of line, but don't take it out on me," Kris said, annoyed.

Jess laughed wryly. "This isn't about Luke, it's about you," he said. Now he was going on the attack and Kris had no idea why. This had been the most he had said to her in over a week..

"What about me?" she asked, completely confused.

"Why do you get into other people's business?" he asked rudely.

Kris was pissed now. "Last time I checked, people who l...care about each other show concern for each other. That's part of what a relationship is." She could believe that she almost let 'love' slip from her mouth. Sure, she had known for a while now how deep her feelings for Jess were, but Jess' feelings for her were still a mystery. And it seemed just now that Jess' feeling for her didn't run very deep.

"Yeah, well maybe we shouldn't be in a relationship anymore," Jess replied angrily.

It felt like Kris was hit in the gut...hard. "What? Why? Where are you coming from? What have I done?" she said on the verge of desperateness.

"You haven't done anything," Jess replied. He smirked at the irony of his statement. The only thing she ever did was turn his insides to goo. The only thing she ever did was make him want to be a better person. The only thing she ever did was completely change his perspective on life and that other L-word that Jess refused to say. 

The truth was that Jess was scared. He had spent the entire week trying to convince himself that he didn't love Kris. But it didn't work. And now he was very scared. It was better to break it off with her now and not wonder about how she felt about him, not have to look at her scared and disappointed face if he told her, not have to be completely naked in front of her. 

He had ditched school simply to try and get back into the old groove of things, before Kris and his insane desire to be a good person overtook him. But he wasn't the same person anymore. The events of the past five months had changed him, for the better, and going back to the old way was now impossible. That frustrated him to no end. He was disgusted that he let a girl get to him like that. 

"I've done nothing? Then I don't understand, Jess..." Kris said, confused and scared. 

"Why do you hafta understand everything, huh? Why do you hafta always control everything?" Jess said, rising and yelling at her. He wanted to hurt her. Maybe then she'd hate him, it would be easier that way.

"Jess, stop that! Why are you doing this? We've gone through way too much shit to get to this point. And a reason why you're throwing all of it away isn't much to ask and you know it!" Kris yelled back. She was on the verge of tears.

Jess was so frustrated now, he wasn't even thinking clearly. 

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" he shouted at her angrily. 

Kris flinched back because of the anger in his voice, but then shock set in when she finally realized what he had said. She blinked frequently and looked around her, unable to fully grasp what he had just said. 

Jess was cursing furiously out loud now at himself. He completely screwed this whole thing up. He saw Kris look around, probably for an exit. 

"You know what, get out, really, screw what I said and go," Jess said, firmly grabbing her elbow and pushing her towards the door.

Kris could feel pressure on her elbow, but that was about it. Then everything clicked in her mind. Why Jess was being such a jerk, why he skipped school, why he had been ignoring her, everything. She quickly turned around, grabbed the back of Jess' neck and kissed him passionately.

She hoped he didn't think that she didn't reciprocate his feelings, but her voice didn't seem to be working just then. She poured all her desire, hope, passion, and love into that kiss. She couldn't lose him, she refused. All the anger, frustration, and fear melted away when she felt him kissing her back. Through the haziness in her mind, she could feel Jess' arms wrap around her waist and she held him tighter.

When they finally parted, both were panting slightly. Kris looked straight in his eyes and saw that for the first time, all walls were gone. She was seeing all of Jess. He looked so vulnerable, lacking all that confidence he usually possessed, but completely beautiful at the same time. 

"I love you," Kris whispered hoarsely. She wished that she had one of those sultry voices to confess her love with, but no such luck. It didn't seem to matter to Jess though. His eyes widened and he stared straight into her eyes, trying to find any trace of deceit in them, but he didn't find anything. She smiled at him, knowing exactly what he was doing. 

Jess hugged her tightly, sighing away all his worries. She loved him. Of all the people she could choose, she chose him. Gratitude and pride filled him. 

"So," she whispered to him, "do you still want me to get out?"

Jess chuckled. "Never," he replied, leading her over to his bed. He sat behind her, unwilling to let go of her waist, but Kris didn't mind.

A warm silence surrounded them as the basked in the knowledge and comfort they shared. Jess kissed her exposed shoulder gently, but quickly stiffened. 

Kris could feel Jess tense behind her. "Jess? What's wrong?"

"What now? I dunno what to do now," he said, shocked at his own inexperience.

Kris smiled confidently. "Don't worry, you're not obligated to do anything more than you were doing before because you said what you said. It's just extremely comforting to know how you feel about me, extremely comforting." She leaned back into him and squeezed his hands that were around her waist still. 

"Sorry, about all that stuff I said earlier, I was being such a selfish asshole," Jess said.

Kris smirked. "Yeah, you were. So, let me just get this straight. You ditched cause you were pissed that I had control over you?"

"Well, yeah," Jess said.

"Jess, I don't want you to do something just cause I say you should do it. I don't wanna control you, ever," she said.

"No, it's not like you crack a whip over my back or anything like that. But, you...you make me wanna do all these things that I didn't want to do before," Jess confessed.

Kris blushed at the indirect compliment. "And you wanted to break up with me cause you didn't think I loved you?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, partly, yeah."

"That's so stupid," she blurted out.

"Well, do you blame me?" Jess asked.

"No. What were the other reasons you wanted to call it quits?"

"All of these things, they're brand new to me. I mean, I've never said that to anyone before. And I had no clue how you'd react and what would happen if I said it. I was scared..."

"Of getting hurt. Of exposing yourself," Kris said, finishing his sentence.

"Exactly."

"Does it scare you still?"

"Well, not as much, now that I know how you feel. It'll take some getting used to, though, this 'show you all of me' thing. Just cause it's new and unknown. But it's nothing some good make-out sessions can't cure," he teased, kissing her neck.

"And since when have our make-out sessions not been good, hmm?" Kris asked feigning shock. 

"Never," he said assertively, turning her around and kissing her. Kris smiled wide. Jess saw that Kris was glowing and she looked absolutely spectacular, well, no, she was absolutely spectacular. 

Yeah, this girl had definitely changed him, but in all honesty, he didn't mind at all.

THE END

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Author's Note : OKAY, this is it, all done. Thank you to all my readers, especially those who have been reading since Chapter One. You've inspired me so much to improve my writing and make sure that I try to put chapters out to the best of my ability. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope that you've enjoyed my story. Please let me know what you think by reviewing, I've put a lot of time into this story. Feel free to let me know when you're working on a story and I'll be sure that I read and review for you! Thanks for all your support!!!!


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